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A HANDBOOK 



ENGLISH HISTORY 



liASED ON 



THE LECTURER OF THE LATE 
M. J.^GUEST 



BROUGHT DOWN TO THE YEAR 1880 



SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER UPON ENGLISH LITERATURE 
OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 






BY 



FRANCIS II. UNDERWOOD, A.M. 

AUTHOR OF HANDBOOKS OF "ENGLISH LITERATURE," ETC. 




WITH MAPS, TABLES, ETC. 



BOSTON 

LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 

1886 



Copyright, 

1886, 

BY LEE AND SIIEPARD. 



Alt Rights /.'. servi <!. 



HANDBOOK KMi!. ISM HISTORY. 



"!|the library 

or CONGRESS 



; WASHINGTON 




Electrotyped by 
C. J. Peters & Son, Boston. 



PREFACE. 



Guest's "Lectures on English History" were prepared 
for the " College for Men and Women " in London, and ap- 
parently were printed substantially as they were delivered. 
As regards style they have the merits and faults of com- 
positions intended for oral delivery; but in substance they 
are of the highest order of excellence. For its compass, 
Guest's History is the most interesting, impartial, complete, 
and satisfactory ever published. It is written from ample 
knowledge ; and the treatment is original, — presenting the 
topics and events in a fresh and entertaining way. It rejects 
the common abstracts and digests of previous writers, and 
is largely filled with citations from the old chroniclers, taking 
the reader back to the original sources of information. It 
recognizes the progress of civil and religious liberty, and 
looks to the future with hope. It is praiseworthy for its 
serene, Christian spirit, its sympathy with the oppressed, its 
high ideals of justice and social order, and for the absence of 
the feeling of caste, which makes so many English books 
offensive to American readers. It will not take the place 
of the larger works, such as those of Hume, Macaulay, Free- 
man, Lingard, Froude, and Green, but it gives as much detail 
as can be available in schools, and it will be a valuable addi- 
tion to any private library. The author was a friend and 
admirer of the lamented Green, but he had clear and original 
views of his own. 



iv PREFACE. 

The matter was considered extremely valuable for the pub- 
lic schools of the United States, but it was evident that it 
would be difficult, if not impossible, to use the book as a 
text-book in the form in which it appeared. The author 
wrote as an Englishman for English readers, and the whole 
point of view would need to be changed. The American 
pupil cannot speak of "our army," "our laws," or "our 
gracious Queen." Equally inappropriate would be the au- 
thor's natural expressions of gratulation for auspicious events, 
and the occasional outbursts of national pride. Those who 
are the inheritors of English blood have a just pride in what- 
ever is good and great in English history: but our view of 
affairs must be from this side of the Atlantic, and from the 
stand-point of democracy. To change all this would require 
a frequent rewriting of sentences. 

The oral method of Mr. Guest, moreover, had its disad- 
vantages. The fulness of phrase which is so necessary for a 
listener may become an unpleasant redundancy for a reader. 
There is no occasion for encumbering a printed sentence with 
superfluous words. Mr. Guest seemed also to carry the notion 
of simplicity to an exti'eme ; and in the endeavor to avoid a 
learned vocabulary he often made use of tedious circles of 
little words, which gave a painful impression of "letting 
down " to the presumed capacity of learners. 

When these two main objections were duly considered, it 
was found necessary to rewrite the history ; and in this way 
the work has been somewhat condensed, without omitting 
important facts or apposite comments. 

Mr. Guest tlid not continue his narrative beyond the reign 
of George III.; in fact, there is little mention of events 
after the battle of Waterloo ; and, to make the work more 
complete, chapters have been added, bringing the history 
down to 1880, and concluding with a concise survey of Eng- 
lish Literature during the present century. In some places 
new matter has been added, — as, for instance, upon Dun- 



PREFACE. V 

stan and Henry VIII. ; but all additions, including the edi- 
tor's notes, are carefully distinguished. 

The treatment to which the original work has been sub- 
jected may appear at first blush harsh and ungracious, and 
it was undertaken with sincere reluctance. But the merits 
were so many and so great, and the difficulties in the way of 
its general use so obvious and decisive, that it was deemed, 
on the whole, necessary and praiseworthy to place the au- 
thor's original methods and his noble and humane views in 
an acceptable form before the youth of this country. 

The useful maps have been retained, and another, showing 
the Saxon kingdoms in the tenth century, has been borrowed 
from Freeman's. 

Owing to the decease of Mr. Guest there was no oppor- 
tunity to confer with him upon the subject of this revision. 

F. H. U. 

Boston, July 29, 1885. 



PREFACE 



TO THE ORIGINAL WORK. 



In these days of many books it seems necessary to give a 
few words of apology or explanation for venturing to add 
another to the number, especially on a subject already so well 
worked as to be almost trite. The only apology 1 can offer 
is, that in writing these Lectures I had no most distant in- 
tention of making a hook. They were genuine Lectures, 
given week by week to a class of students in the College for 
Men and Women in Queen Square. 

My pupils and I having wandered for some time in the 
intricate mazes of modern English Grammar, and finding the 
study somewhat barren, I proposed that we should turn our 
attention to English History, as likely to bring more interest, 
variety, and fruitfulness to our work. When 1 began to pre- 
pare the lessons, I found indeed innumerable hooks, hut no 
book, no one book, which was not either too learned, too co- 
pious, too trivial, or too condensed for my exact purpose. I 
had neither power nor ambition to bring new materials, hut 
1 had to choose and shape afresh those already so bountifully 
provided, in order to reach my aim, which was to awaken a 
real and vivid interest in so noble a study as that of the life 
and growth of England through 12000 years. 

Whilst owning obligations to so many, I may, perhaps, he 
permitted to express my special indebtedness to Mr. Green, 
not only for the constant guidance of his most original and 



PREFACE. Vll 

delightful " History of the English People," but also for his 
valuable suggestions as to the authorities most helpful in the 
study of each period. 

It seemed likely that others might have felt a need similar 
to my own, and that the Lectures might be useful to readers 
as well as hearers. 

A point which, perhaps, needs explanation, is the large 
number of quotations and extracts I have given. My reason 
for doing this Avas the great desire I felt to induce my pupils 
to read for themselves ; to enjoy individually the same delight 
which I found in the old literature of our country ; to live 
themselves back as far as possible into the very times of 
which Ave Avere speaking ; to breathe the same air, think the 
same thoughts, feel the same feelings as our fathers had done. 

To read or hear the facts, opinions, and inferences gleaned 
by another person from those old books, is like reading trav- 
els in unknoAA r n lands, and seeing them with the traveller's 
eyes; but to study the old books themselves is like travelling 
in those lands and seeing them with our oavu. The very first 
advice my book is meant to enforce is — Read, read for 
yourselves. 

If I may seem occasionally to abate somewhat of the re- 
spect due from a writer to his unknown readers, my excuse 
must be, that in preparing these lectures for the press, I have 
never been able to forget the kindly faces of the dear friends 
and pupils Avho surrounded me when they were first given, 
and Avho made my Avork so truly a labor of love. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. — PRE-HISTORIC ENGLAND. 

PAGE 

Pre-historic England and its inhabitants. The palaeolithic period — man 
and the contemporary animals. The neolithic period. The bronze 
period 1 

CHAPTER II.— THE ROMANS. 

The Romans — their position in the world at the beginning of British his- 
tory — their armies, navy, colonies, religion, and morality — their laws — 
treatment of subject nations — habits and amusements —their slaves . 9 

CHAPTER III. —THE BRITONS. 

The ancient Britons — their language, religion, education, commerce, and 
arts — their relations on the Continent — their connection with the great 
Aryan family — their descendants in the present day 18 

CHAPTER IV. —THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN. 

Julius Csesar in Gaul. Invasion of Britain. Agricola. Progress of civiliza- 
tion. Introduction of Christianity 26 

CHAPTER V. — THE TEUTONS. 

The decay of the Roman Empire. Origin of the English people. The Ger- 
mans or Teutons— their laws, manners, language, and religion . . 35 

CHAPTER VI. —THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH. 

Departure of the Romans. The Picts and Scots. The settlements of the 

English — their treatment of the Britons. Cerdic. Arthur ... 44 

CHAPTER VII. — THE CONVERSION OF THE 
ENGLISH. 

The introduction of Christianity. Gregory the Great. State of Christian- 
ity in the sixth century. Civilizing influence of the Christian teachers. 
Monasteries. Rede 51 



CONTESTS. 



CHAPTER VIII. — THE UNITING OF THE ENGLISH 

KINGDOMS. 

The kingdoms of the English. The "Bretwalda." Egbert. The Danes. 

St. Edmund 60 

CHAPTER IX. — ALFRED. 

King Alfred. His education. His war with the Danes. The treaty of 
Wedmore. The time of peace. Alfred's work in law, justice, religion, 
and education. His books C8 

CHAPTER X.— ENGLAND IN PROSPERITY. 

Alfred's descendants. Ethelstane. Condition of the people. Ranks of 
society. The poor. Slavery. Treatment of women. Eood, amuse- 
ments", dress, buildings. The names for the months 83 

CHAPTER XL— DUNSTAN. 

The kings after Ethelstane. Edgar the Peaceable. The wolf-tribute. The 
vassal-kings. St. Dunstau. The religion of the period. Superstitions — 
Witches — the ordeal 93 

CHAPTER XII. —THE UNREADY. 

The sons of Edgar. The Battle of Maldon. Tribute to the Danes. Massa- 
cre of St. Briuswend. Ethelred's flight. Normandy and the Nor- 
mans. Edmund Ironside 103 

CHAPTER XIIL — CANUTE. 

A Danish king — his fierce beginning — his reform — his religion — pil- 
grimage to Rome — his letters — his sons 112 

CHAPTER XIV. —THE CONFESSOR. 

Edward the Confessor. The Normans and the English. The English party 
and Earl Godwine. Godwine's banishment and return. Harold. West- 
minster Abbey l-° 

CHAPTER XV. —THE CONQUEST. 

Election of Harold. Battle of Stamford Bridge. Battle of Hastings. Coro- 
nation of William the Conqueror. His character. Effects of the Nor- 
man Conquest on the English character — on the English language . . 130 

CHAPTER XVI.— THE CONQUEROR. 

The foreigners in England. The feudal system. The castles. Risings of 
the English. Devastation of Northumberland. The New Forest. Ap- 
pointments in the Church. Resistance to Papal encroachment. Death 
of the Conqueror 1-10 

CHAPTER XVII. —THE CONQUEROR'S SONS. 

William Rufus. His brother Robert. The king and the barons. The Eng- 
lish people. Anselm. The Crusades. Henry Beauclerc. His marriage. 
The English take his part. Peace, order, and justice. Stephen and 
Matilda. Misery of the country. The agreement and promised reform. 
Death of Stephen 150 



CONTENTS. xi 



CHAPTER XVIII. — HENRY PLANTAGENET. 

Character of Henry. His marriage. His dominions. Distinction between 
English and Normans disappears. Destruction of the castles. Condi- 
tion of Ireland. The conquest. 1i;l' 

CHAPTER XIX.— CHURCH AND STATE. 

Disputes between Church and State. Investitures. Ecclesiastical courts. 
Thomas a Becket as chancellor— as archbishop. Excommunication. 
Death of Becket. He is looked on as a saint. Henry does penance . I7u 

CHAPTER XX.— THE SONS OF HENRY. 

Henry's family troubles. Mis death. Richard Cceur-de-Lion. Chivalry. 
Richard's absence from England. John Sans-terre. Prince Arthur. 
Loss of Normandy 1*2 

CHAPTER XXI. —MAGNA CHARTA. 

The dispute with the Tope. Stephen Laiigton. John becomes the Pope's 
vassal. The archbishop and the barons demand the charter. The 
changes it introduced. Joint breaks the charter. The French inva- 
sion. Death of John _ 193 

CHAPTER XXII. —HENRY III. RELIGION AND 
EDUCATION. 

Gothic architecture and Westminster Abbey. Extortions of the Pope. The 

Grey Friars and the Black Friars. The universities. Roger Bacon . 20(3 

CHAPTER XXIII. —THE PARLIAMENT. 

The foreigners. The king's extravagance. Demands for money. The 
barons resist. Simon de Montfort. The Parliament. Character of 
Prince Edward. The last Crusade ■ . . . 216 

'CHAPTER XXIV. — EDWARD I. ENGLAND AND 
WALES. 

Edward's government. Dispute about taxation. Humphrey Bohun. The 
old over-lordship of England in Wales and Scotland. The Welsh people. 
Conquest of Wales 226 

CHAPTER XXV. —EDWARD I. SCOTLAND. 

The inhabitants of Scotland. The old laws. Candidates for the crown. 
Kdward claims the over-lordship. John Balliol. The first revolt. The 
tirst conquest. The stone of destiny 235 

CHAPTER XXVI.— SCOTLAND VICTORIOUS. 

Wallace. Battle of Stirling Bridge. The second conquest. Battle of Fal- 
kirk. Robert Bruce. His coronation. Death of Kdward I. Battle of 
Bannockbum 240 



Xii CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXVII. — CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGN 
WAR. 

Edward II. His father's last commands. Piers Gaveston. The Lords Or- 

dainers. The Dispensers. The queen. Deposition of Edward. His 
murder. Edward III. The French wars. Froissart. The Black 

Prince. Battle of Crecy. Calais 256 

CHAPTER XXVIII. — GLORY AND SORROW. 

The Battle of Poitiers. The Black Death. The serfs. Loss of Aquitaine. 

The Black Prince ami the Parliament. Death of the prince . . . 287 

CHAPTER XXIX. —MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 

The English people five hundred years ago. The language. The writers. 

The friars. The clergy 276 

CHAPTER XXX. — MEDPEVAL ENGLAND [continued). 

The knights. The state of education. The households, dress, and luxury of 

the rich. The condition of the poor 283 

CHAPTER XXXI. —NEW ASPIRATIONS. 

Wyclif. The English Bihle. Richard II. Wat Tyler and the insurrec- 
tion of the people. Its results . 292 

CHAPTER XXXII. — RICHARD THE REDELESS. 

Character of Richard. His uncles. Troubles of the reign. Death of the 
Duke of Gloucester. Richard aims at absolute power. Henry of Lan- 
caster. Hi- banishment. His return. Deposition of Richard . . 304 

CHAPTER XXXIII. — HENRY OF LANCASTER. 

-The Lollards. Persecution. Prince Harry. The Border Wars. Percy and 
Douglas, ouen Glendower. Battle of Shrewsbury. The King of 
Scotland .*.... 312 

CHAPTER XXXIV. —THE CONQUEST OF FRANCE. 

Character of Henry V. Lord Cobham and the Lollards. The war with 
France. Harfleur. Battle of Agincourt. Rouen. Treaty of Troyes. 
The king's marriage. His death and burial . . . . ' . . . 321 

CHAPTER XXXV. — FRANCE RECOVERS. 

Henry VI. The Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. Cardinal Beaufort. 
Hie- Maid of Orleans. Coronation of Charles VII. of France. Death 
of the Maid 333 

CHAPTER XXXVI. — LOSS OF FRANCE AND 
TROUBLES IN ENGLAND. 

End of the Hundred Years" War. Margaret of Anjou. Death of Glouces- 
ter and Suffolk. Cade's revolt. The principal actors in the Wars of the 
Roses .-43 



CONTENTS. xiii 



CHAPTER XXXVII. — WARS OF THE ROSES. 

The old nobility and their armies. End of the feudal system. Causes of 
the war. Condition of the people. Edward IV. His' marriage. Vicis- 
situdes 354 

CHAPTER XXXVIII — THE EXD OF THE WAR. 

Caxton and the printing-press. Richard III. His victims. Murder of the 

young princes. Henry Tudor. Battle of Bosworth Field .... 363 

CHAPTER XXXIX. —THE RENAISSANCE. 

Peace after war. Henry VII. His character. He suppresses the power of 
the nobles. England prospers. Discovery of America. The revival of 
learning 374 

CHAPTER XL. —THE STATE OF RELIGION. 

Worldliness of the Church. The monasteries. The Oxford Reformers. The 
New Testament. Henry VI II. and Dean Golet 384 

CHAPTER XLI. — THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 

Cardinal Wolsey. His rise and greatness. Henry and Katherine. Fall of 
Wolsey. The Pope's supremacy renounced. The king declared head of 
the Church. Heaths of More and Fisher 393 

CHAPTER XLII. — THE REFORMERS. 

Craniner and Cromwell. The English Bible. Tyndale. The New Testa- 
ment burnt at St. Paul's. The Bible published by authority. Dissolu- 
tion of the monasteries. Death of Henry VIII 404 

CHAPTER XLI1L — THE STRUGGLE OF THE 
CHURCHES. 

Edward VI. Protector Somerset. The Reformation urged forward. Revolt 
in the west. Revolt in the east. Death of Somerset. Death of Edward. 
Lady Jane Grey. Mary and Philip. Catholicism Restored. The Protes- 
tant martyrs 413 

CHAPTER XLIV. — THE TWO QUEENS. 

Elizabeth. Her character. Her ministers. The Church and the Puritans. 
Mary, Queen of Scots. Babington's conspiracy. Trial and- execution of 
Mary 427 

CHAPTER XLV. — GLORIAXA. 

The Spanish Armada. The English fleet. The English sailors. The con- 
flict. England's triumph. Literature. Shakespeare and the theatre. 
Death of Elizabeth 435 

CHAPTER XL VI.— JAMES OF SCOTLAND. 

The Stuarts. The divine right of kings. James and the Church of Eng- 
land. The Puritans and the Catholics. The Pilgrim Fathers. Gun- 
powder Treason 4 1'J 



XIV CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XLVIL — THE KING AND THE PAR- 
LIAMENT. 

The royal prerogative. The Parliament. Charles I. The Cavaliers and the 
Roundheads. Strafford and Laud. Ship-money. Hampden. The 
Prayer-book in Scotland 44k 

CHAPTER XLVIII. — THE CIVIL WAR. 

The Long Parliament. The five members. The war begins. Oliver Crom- 
well. His army. Trial and execution of the king. The military des- 
potism. Battle of Worcester '. . 4. T >0 

CHAPTER XLIX. — THE PROTECTOR AND THE 
KING. 

The rule of Oliver Cromwell. The fame of England. Death of Oliver. 
The army supreme. Recall of Charles II. Reaction against the Puri- 
tans. The plague and the tire 471' 

CHAPTER L. — THE LAST STUART KING*. 

Charles and the King of France. Progress of learning. Death of Charles. 
James II. Rebellion of Monmouth. The " Bloody Assizes." The king 
favors Catholicism, and breaks the laws. The seven bishops. Birth of a 
prince. William of Orange. The flight of James 184 

CHAPTER LI. —THE REVOLUTION AND KING 
WILLIAM. 

Effects of the Revolution. William and Mary. Religious toleration. The 
war in Ireland. The French Meet invades England. Liberty of the 
press. Death of James II. The French king proclaims Prince James 
King of England. Death of William 408 

CHAPTER Ln. — WHIGS AND TORIES. 

Queen Anne and the Churchills. War with France. Battle of Blenheim. 
' Peace of Utrecht. Negro slaves. Scotland. George of Hanover. 
Whigs and Tories. Attempts of the Stuart princes ><>* 

CHAPTER LIII. — SLEEP AND WAKING. 

The Whigs and Walpole. Decline of enthusiasm. Foreign wars. Disasters 
and despondency. The elder Pitt. Canada and Wolfe. India and 
Olive. The Methodists ■"'-- 

CHAPTER LIV. — THE ENGLISH GEORGE. 

George III. The American colonies. Policy of England. Declaration of 
Independence. The slave trade. Wilberforee. The younger Pitt. The 
French Revolution yv - 

CHAPTER LV. — THE LAST WAR WITH FRANCE. 

The English sailors. Nelson. The Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon Bona- 
parte. The Duke of Wellington. The Peninsular War. Waterloo . 541 



CONTKNTS. XV 



CHAPTER LVI. — GEORGE IV. AND WILLIAM IV. 

A king in name only. The trial of Queen Caroline. Reforms advocated. 
Catholic Emancipation. Accession of William IV. Daniel O'Connell, 
and the Wrongs of Ireland 549 

CHAPTER LVII. — THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 

Separation of Hanover. The Queen's Marriage. The War with Afghanis- 
tan. Free Trade. Famine in Ireland. The War in the Crimea, and the 
Sepoy Rebellion. England during the American Civil War. Agitations 
and Reforms. Rise of Gladstone. Victorian Conquests .... 557 

CHAPTER LVIIL — ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE 
NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

The Scientific Writers. The Historians. Essayists. The Great Novelists. 
The Poets 574 

CONCLUSION 588 



LIST OF MAPS. 

1. England and hkr Dependencies, 1878 Frontispiece 

2. Physiography of Great Britain in late Pleistocene 

Age To face page l' 

3. England under the Saxon Kings „ „ „ 68 

4. France during the French Wars „ „ „ 346 

5. Modern England 56h 



GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 



CHAPTER I. 



PRE-HISTORIO ENGLAND. 



Pre-historic England and its inhabitants. The palaeolithic period — 
man and the contemporary animals. The neolithic period. The 
bronze period. 

The history of England should begin with an account 
of the country as it was when man first appeared upon the 
scene. In the first period the land which now forms the 
British Isles was joined to the mainland of Europe. (See 
map.) It is clear from the enormous spaces covered with 
ice which we see in this map, that it must have been much 
colder then than it is now. But though we have now no 
snowy mountains, and no glaciers, England is in the same 
latitude as Labrador, which is now as cold as Greenland and 
Iceland ; and it is well known to physical geographers that 
England was formerly in a somewhat similar condition. 

In spite of the cold there were a very great number of 
animals living in England at that time, which are now 
found only in the Zoological Gardens. There 
were two kinds of elephants; two kinds of rhi- ammals. 
noceroses ; lions larger than those now living in 
Asia and Africa ; bears equal in size to large horses ; huge 
hyaenas, hippopotamuses, bisons, reindeer ; very large stags 
and elks, besides many other smaller animals. The j>roof 
of this is that in a great many parts of England, in very 
old caves, and buried in very old gravel, the bones, horns, 
teeth, and tusks of these creatures have been found in large 
numbers. Anatomists are able to distinguish the bones and 
teeth of different animals with perfect certainty. 

1 



2 GUEST S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

This seems to prove very clearly that England could not 
then have heen an island. For these great creatures could 
not have got over the sea. They could not have swum 
so far ; and it is certain, even if men had come across in 
boats, they would not have wanted to bring these fierce 
wild beasts with them. Another evidence is that in many 
parts of the sea, between England and the Continent, there 
have been dredged up bones and teeth of the same animals, 
which had lived and died in those parts when they were still 
dry land. And the same sorts of bones, tusks, etc., are 
found in great numbers on the mainland opposite to Eng- 
land. The sea is not very deep in any part of the German 
Ocean, and it is known by other proofs that sometimes land 
rises above the sea, and sometimes sinks below it. 

Amongst all these great, fierce, and strong animals, there 
was another remarkable animal living, much smaller than 
the lions and elephants, and apparently very helpless. This 
creature had a bare skin, with no fur, no wool, and very little 
hair. Which of these creatures was likely to be crushed, 
devoured, and stamped out first ? 

Yet that very one is living, triumphant lord and master ; 
and the lions and elephants, the bears and the hyaenas, are 
gone forever out of England, and many of them out of the 
world. 

That poor defenceless creature, though he had no horns 
nor claws, had what none of the others had — a marvel- 
lous power of thought, and a marvellous power of 
improvement. No other animal could come near 
him in that. And by thought and intelligence he subdued 
or survived all the others. Set in the midst of all these 
fierce enemies, and so helpless, he thought of what no 
brute has ever in the world thought of — he thought of 
making a tool; something that he could use instead of the 
Aveapons they had growing on them by nature. And though 
his first tools were very rude and rough, they were the won- 
derful beginning of all the innumerable things we have to 
help us in our works. Of course these wild savage men 
could not write to tell us of their tools, but we have just as 
good proof of them as we had of the existence of the ele- 
phants, for they are dug up in multitudes in the very same 
places where the horns and tusks are found, and may be 
seen in the museums. 

These earliest tools were naturally made of stones, bones, 



Eeroe 







'-"■'■: '..': ■■ ■■ ■'■■ :■■"■*.' . y.. ':■'■■: .-:■■•: ■'(■■-■ ■;.- ■;■-'. ■:;.- '}.:!'. 



Physiography of Great Britain in late Pleistocene Age. 
Shaded area ss Land now submerged. Dotted area = Region occupied by animals, 

Plain area = Region occupied by glaciers. 



PEE-HISTORIC ENGLAND. 3 

or horns. Men had not yet, nor for a very long time after, 
the idea of working in metals. A man picked up a 
stone and shaped it to a point or a cutting edge ; His first 
it could then be used as a hatchet, knife, an awl, or 
an arrow-head. He used it, no doubt, for all sorts of pur- 
poses, especially for killing animals and cutting up the flesh. 
But these ancient men could also make a peaceable tool, 
such as Ave use now — namely, a needle. Their needles 
were made of the bone of reindeer or horses, carefully 
smoothed and rounded on fragments of sandstone, and the 
eyes were neatly pierced with a sharp stone awl. As they 
had no thread, and knew nothing about spinning or weaving, 
they most likely wore clothes of skin, or the bark of trees, 
and threaded their needles for sewing them with the ten- 
dons of reindeer. Probably they used tendons also for bow- 
strings. 

These savage men could also produce fire ; for in the caves 
where they lived their old hearths have been discovered, and 
great quantities of charcoal. Most likely they roasted their 
meat, for they had not yet learned to make pots or sauce- 
pans. Nor had they learned to make houses; at least, all 
we can find out about their dwellings is, that they lived in 
caves when they could find them. As the hyaenas, lions, 
and bears also liked the caves, we may be sure there were 
many fights who should get possession of them, and some- 
times the men conquered, and sometimes the wild beasts. 
They had not yet learned to till the ground, but lived, as the 
lowest savages always do, only by hunting and fishing. They 
do not appear to have had any domestic animal, not even the 
dog. 

They were fond of ornaments. The skeleton of one of 
these men has been found (though not in England) with 
bracelets of sea-shells round the arms and wrists, knees and 
ankles. They also adorned themselves with beads of coral 
and teeth of animals. 

Stranger still, some of them could draw, or, as we should 
rather say, " engrave," or incise on pieces of bone or ivory. 

One of those ancient artists made a picture of an ele- 
phant, such as lived at that time (now called a mammoth), 
which had a long hairy coat and mane. As no such ele- 
phants exist now in the world, we should have thought this 
a fancy of the artist, had it not been for the discovery, 
in Siberia, of the frozen bodies of some of the very same 



4 GUEST S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

animals, which had been buried in ice and frozen gravel 
for thousands of years, with the fur and hair still in good 
preservation. 

The people who lived before history was written, and of 
whom we know nothing but from what they left behind 
them, are named after the tools they used. Those just 
described are called "palaeolithic," meaning "ancient stone,'' 
because their tools were principally made of stone; and at 
this period were very different from those of the next set 
of people we know anything about. 

These are called " neolithic," meaning " new stone." 
They were greatly improved in many ways from the palaeo- 
lithic men. For one thing, they could make their tools 
much better. They still made them of stones; but they 
had learned to shape and polish them beautifully, 
period C ° nd so tnat tnt ' v were m i* more convenient and useful. 
By this time the great wild beasts had disappeared ; 
instead of lions and elephants, we find with the polished 
stone implements the remains of clogs, pigs, oxen, sheep, 
and goats. Very likely Britain was an island by this time, 
but was larger than it is now ; for there were great forests 
growing where there is now sea. On many parts of the 
coast there may still be seen, at low water, the relics of 
these forests, stum] is of large trees, etc., sunk beneath the 
sen. Most of the country was covered with rocks, forests, 
and morass, which afforded shelter to elks, bisons, and 
reindeer. Reindeer moss is still to be found growing on 
some of the old commons near London ; at Keston, for in- 
stance. 

The neolithic men had begun to be more civilized in 
their food. They seem to have eaten corn * and to have 
kept tame animals, instead of depending only on 
n?ent 0Ve " * ne cna8e - They ate beef, pork, and hares, also 
goats, horses, and dogs. Some learned men be- 
lieve that they were cannibals, and ate human flesh also, 
but this cannot be proved. They had stone implements 
for crushing or grinding corn. 

They had also learned two other great arts, though they 
were still very rude : the making of pottery, and spinning 



* Wheat, rye, or barley. "Corn," by which in the United States 
is meant maize, was first found in the Western Continent. 



PRE-HISTORIC ENGLAND. O 

and weaving. Pieces of rough pottery are often found in 
their caves, and some pieces of woven stuff, either of straw 
or of flax, and also stone spindle-whorls. 

As far as we can judge, though they sometimes lived in 
caves, they had also learned to make a rude kind of house. 
It was most likely the neolithic men who raised many of 
the mounds or tumuli, of which there are great numbers in 
England, as well as in other parts of Europe, and Avhieh are 
generally tombs. Many of them have been opened, and 
skeletons found in them. Sometimes they contain a large, 
hollow chamber, with walls of rough stones, and a stone 
passage leading to it. Within the chamber may be found 
a number of skeletons, sitting or crouching, just as they 
were buried. With the human beings were often buried 
the things which in life they valued most ; with warriors, 
their weapons ; with women, their ornaments. " When a 
great man died he was placed on his favorite seat, food and 
drink were set before him, his weapons placed by his side, 
his house was closed —-sometimes to be opened again when 
his wife or children joined him."* 80 it seems that the 
tumuli may have been sometimes the real houses where the 
people had lived; and sometimes they were, perhaps, imita- 
tions of them. Many people think that both these and the 
palaeolithic men showed a belief in the immortality of the 
soul by providing their dead with necessaries and pleasures. 
They probably thought that the weapons, food, etc., had a 
kind of spirit also, which would attend the spirit of the man 
after the death of his body. 

The neolithic men were rather a small race — their skele- 
tons show that they were about five feet five inches in height. 
The implements they could make were, among others, axes, 
wedges, chisels, hammers, poniards, and lance-heads. They 
could also make ornaments of gold. 

After this we come to another period, where' another great 
advance is discernible. Men had by this time learned to 
work in metals. Of the implements in common 
use, very few are of stone, or bone, or horn. Al- p^od 11 " 1 * 
most all our tools and weapons, knives, ploughs, 
spades, swords, guns, needles, etc., are of metal. It was a 
vast step forward to have found out how to work metals. 



* Sir John Lubbock. 



6 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Gold, which the neolithic people had employed for orna- 
ments, is soft and easy to work, but of very little use either 
for sharpness or strength. Our tools are, of course, princi- 
pally made of iron, but that was far too difficult a metal to 
begin with. Copper seems to have been the first useful metal 
noticed by man. Iron is hardly ever found, except in ore ; 
but copper is often found native, and, not being very hard, 
it can be beaten into shape. Iron is difficult to cast, but cop- 
per is very easy. It seems, however, to have been soon 
discovered that copper is more serviceable when mixed with 
a small quantity of tin. It is then called bronze ; and bronze 
is the commonest metal found in ancient deposits. No im- 
plement of pure tin has ever been found, and hardly any of 
pure copper; but many thousands of bronze implements 
have been found in England, Ireland, and various parts of 
Europe; therefore this period is called the bronze period. 

It is not certain whether the people who made the bronze 
implements were the descendants of the neolithic men, but 
it appears most probable that they were, and that they had 
gradually progressed. It is almost certain that we have 
many of their descendants among us still, and are even partly 
of their race ourselves. 

These people seem to have given up living in caves, and 
to have learned to build houses. We do not know much 
about their houses from anything found in England, 
improve- but those who lived in .Switzerland made curious 
ment. villages upon the lakes, supported on strong piles, 
and so did those who lived in Wales and Ireland. In the 
Swiss lakes, round about the remains of the old piles, in- 
numerable relics have been found, which tell us a good deal 
about the way of life of these people. We may even see 
the very food they used to eat. 

They had a great deal of corn. Bushels of grain have 
been found, and even pieces of bread, or rather, unleavened 
cakes about an inch thick; wild apples and pears, some- 
times cut in halves or quarters, dried, and stored up for 
winter use ; stones of wild plums, seeds of raspberries and 
blackberries, shells of hazel-nuts. They had also domestic 
animals. 

They coidd certainly weave linen ; for many remains of 
linen tissue have been found in England among their bronze 
implements in some of the tumuli. In Denmark the grave 
and coffin of a chief were opened, and his whole suit of 



PKE-H1ST0KIC ENGLAND. 7 

clothes were found, as if he had been buried in them. The 
body was very much changed ; the bones were turned into 
a kind of blue powder. The brain was the least changed 
of all ; it was found at one end of the coffin, covered by a 
thick w T oollen cap. The body had been wrapped in a coarse 
woollen cloth, a woollen shirt, two shawls with long fringes, 
leggings, and at the other end of the coffin were some frag- 
ments of leather, doubtless the remains of boots or shoes. 
In the coffin with him were found also another cap, a small 
comb, and a knife, packed in a little box, and by his side a 
bronze sword in a wooden sheath. This man had probably 
died late in the bronze period, for most generally in the ear- 
lier times the dead were burned, and the ashes collected in 
an urn. 

As to the implements they made, the commonest are called 
" celts," which could be used for chisels, hoes, or axes, and 
which were cast in moulds of sand. They could also make 
very beautiful swords, with ornamental handles ; daggers, 
spears, arrows, knives, and fish-hooks, and pretty bracelets, 
brooches, hair-pins, and buttons ; for they had by no means 
outgrown the love of ornaments. 

They had likewise improved very much in making pot- 
tery, and in decorating their jars and vases with different 
patterns. But they did not yet know how to make them 
flat at the bottom, so as to stand steady ; they were mostly 
round, and had to be supported on rings of earthenware. 
Many of the large vases seem to have been used for storing 
nuts and other fruits for winter use. 

It is supposed that these were the people who built Stone- 
henge, that mysterious circle of stones on Salisbury Plain, 
which has always been considered one of the wonders of 
England ; but this is not quite certain. 

Still later, or in what are called " historic " times, we 
find the people of whom we read had left off using stone 
and bronze, and had their tools and weapons made 
of iron, as we have now. As iron is much more ron ' 
difficult to work than bronze, it is evident that men must 
have improved greatly in skill ; but we know very little 
about the way they first took to it. Only it is believed that 
the first iron used Avas not smelted out of ore, but was some 
of the "meteoric" iron which sometimes falls from the sky, 
and which is almost pure metal-. Some of the oldest names 
for iron we know of — the Greek and the Egyptian — mean 



8 GUEST S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the "starry" and the "sky-stone," or "stone of heaven." 
And when they had found how keen, how hard, how pre- 
cious, the heavenly metal was, they would soon think it 
worth while to take a great deal of trouhle to purify 
that which they found mixed up with baser matters on 
earth. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE ROMANS. 

The Romans — their position in the world at the beginning of British history 
— their armies, navy, colonies, religion, and morality; their laws — treat- 
ment of subject nations — habits and amusements — ■ their slaves. 

When we come to "historic" times, that is, times in 
which people observed and wrote down the events which 
happened, Ave do not, at first, find that the inhabitants of 
Britain did so about themselves. But other and quite trust- 
worthy people wrote of them. 

It was mentioned in the last chapter that Great Britain 
and Ireland were once joined to the mainland of Europe ; 
though long before the historic period that had ceased to be 
the case. Still there has always been a very close connec- 
tion between the British Isles and the Continent, and Ave 
can never understand the history of England without know- 
ing something also about the state of Europe. The 
first people, from whose writings Ave learn some- Romans, 
thing about the country and those who lived in it, 
were the Romans, Avho were for several hundred years the 
most important nation in the world. 

Egypt, with its pyramids and temples, and its records of 
hoar antiquity, — Palestine, the seat of the Jcavs, and the 
birthplace of the Christian religion, — Phoenicia, whose 
genius developed picture-writing into the alphabet, and so 
created literature, and Avhose ships visited every known 
shore, — Asia Minor, with its rich and beautiful cities, — 
Greece, to Avhom the world owes, perhaps, its largest debt 
for its inheritance of science, letters, and art, — Italy, with 
its outlying islands, and its many races fused at last in one, 
— Gaul, Hispania, and the African coast, — all the nations 
around the Mediterranean Sea were conquered by Roman 
armies, and governed by Roman laws. 

9 



10 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

In very ancient times there was a state of perpetual war ; 
a state in which a man could only feel secure in the posses- 
sion of his lands or his flocks as long as he had strength in 
his own right arm to defend them. It was not thought at 
all disgraceful, but very honorable, for a stronger man to 
surprise and take them for himself. The j>eople of one fam- 
ily helped and befriended one another ; and as families in- 
creased in number they gradually grew into tribes, which 
hung together and supported each other ; and the successful 
tribes, again, by degrees grew into nations ; and it Mas the 
natural state of things for them to be at war with all other 
families, or tribes, or nations. 

The Romans had begun in a very small way, by building 
a rude little village, which in the course of years grew into 
the stately city of Rome ; while they themselves grew into 
the great conquerors and masters we have seen. It is sup- 
posed to have been about 750 years from the foundation of 
the city to the birth of Christ, which occurred soon after 
the time when Britain first took her place in written history. 
Some of the wiser of them had begun to think it time to 
stop in the career of conquest, though they did add some 
other provinces afterwards. 

The Romans regarded their army as more important than 
anything else. The officers were what we now 

e army. term g- eilt ] emen . ^] ie common soldiers were of the 
lower orders, and recruited in all, even the most distant, 
provinces ; but mostly from the north rather than from the 
south, because they were braver and stronger. It was con- 
sidered a great honor to be a soldier; much more honor- 
able than to be a mechanic or a laborer. Every soldier took 
a most solemn oath, which was called a "sacrament;" so 
solemn was it that Christians have taken that name for 
the sacred ceremonies in which they pledge themselves to 
follow Christ. The soldier swore never to desert his stan- 
dard, to submit Ids own will to the command of his leader, 
and to sacrifice his life for the empire. The standard was a 
golden eagle, which was worshipped as a god ; and it was 
thought impious as well as disgraceful to desert the eagles. 
The "soldiers were well paid, but very strictly disciplined. 
They were, if not at war, constantly exercised ; and, in 
exercising, their arms were twice as heavy as the real 
ones. They were taught to march, run, lea]), and swim ; 
and thus became very hardy and active. Their generals 



THE ROMANS. 11 

would not only look on, but take part in the exercises them- 
selves. 

The whole army was divided into legions, each of which 
was like a little army, complete in itself, and comprising all 
sorts of soldiers. The heavy-armed footsoldiers had hel- 
mets, breastplates, greaves, shields, spears, and two-edged 
swords. Each legion had also a band of cavalry, with lighter 
arms; also had its own artillery, — of course not cannon, but 
battering-rams, and machines for discharging great stones, 
which were used in sieges before gunpowder was invented. 
There were, perhaps, 12,500 men in a legion, and in the 
palmy days of Rome she possessed thirty of these mighty 
forces. They were encamped along the banks of great riv- 
ers, as the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates, and on the 
other borders of the empire, to keep off the barbarians who 
were swarming outside. There were men from the con- 
quered provinces, who had not been trained and drilled 
like the regular soldiers, but who fought in their own fash- 
ion, under Roman officers, and who were called auxiliaries. 

The Romans were not powerful on the sea, and their navy 
was by no means equal to their army. The Medi- 
terranean was the only sea they wished to com- 
mand, and they seldom thought of venturing outside the 
narrow straits which led to the great ocean beyond. They 
believed that their divine hero, Hercules, had been through 
those straits in performing some of his great? deeds, and 
had set up a pillar on each side in remembrance of the feat ; 
and though they were really frightened by the sea, they 
tried to lay their fears on the ground of religion. For 
one man, Drusus, did try to make some way beyond the 
"pillars," and to find out something more about Hercules; 
" but," says one of their wisest historians, Tacitus, " the 
roughness of the ocean withstood him, nor would suffer dis- 
coveries to be made about itself no more than about Hercu- 
les. Thenceforward the enterprise was dropped. Nay, 
more pious and reverential it seemed to believe the marvel- 
lous feats of the gods than to know and to prove them." 

We do not know how much Tacitus himself believed of 
those labors of Hercules, for when we try to learn . 

about their religion, we seem to find that at the 
time he wrote there were two religions prevailing; one for 
the common and ignorant people and the women, and an- 
other for the well educated. The first had become gross 



12 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

idolatry. Not that it had been so from the beginning ; for 
it seems, in the earliest times, to have arisen by giving names 
to natural things, as the sun, the sky, the dawn, and the 
wind ; and by degrees forgetting what those names meant, 
fancying that they were the names of real people, and at last 
worshipping them as gods and goddesses. The principal 
god was Jupiter. That name really meant " the Sky-Father," 
or Father in Heaven ; but this first beautiful meaning was 
lost after a time, and many of the tales told of Jupiter were 
very degrading; as were also those of the other gods and 
goddesses. 

The wiser and more thoughtful of the people longed for 
something better and truer than this. They could not be- 
lieve tales in which the gods are represented as being much 
worse than good men, or, indeed, than most bad men. 
They had conquered the Jews some time before this, and it 
is very interesting to read what Tacitus says about them. 
He speaks of them, on the whole, with great contempt 
and disdain, but he is much struck (for he mentions it sev- 
eral times) with their spiritual religion. "The Jews know 
but one Deity, to be conceived and adored by the mind only. 
For profane and unhallowed they hold all such as, out of 
materials mortal and perishing, use to fashion their gods 
after the likeness of men ; they hold that the Divine Being, 
eternal and supreme, is incapable of all change, incapable of 
ever ending." The same writer tells us that the first Roman 
who subdued the Jews, " exercising the rights of a conqueror, 
entered their temple. Thenceforward it was rumored about 
that within it he had found no images of the gods, but the 
residence of the Deity, void of any." 

Some of the wiser, then, among the Romans, longed for a 
religion more like this, and one which they could believe; 
for "they could not be content with a mere dreary unbelief. 
They wanted something spiritual, and they wanted a pure 
morality. Some of them felt and wrote as nobly as Chris- 
tians could. One of them, Epictetus, who lived not long 
after the time I am describing, and who had a very unhappy 
outward life, wrote these beautiful words : "I will say unto 
God, ' Did I ever find fault, or accuse Thy government of 
affairs '? I was sick, because Thou wonkiest ; others also have 
been sick, but I willingly. I was poor, because Thou wouldest ; 
and therefore joyful in my poverty. I never was in au- 
thority, because Thou wouldest not ; and Thou knowest that, 



THE ROMANS. 13 

therefore, I never desired authority. Did I ever appear be- 
fore Thee with a sad and dejected countenance, as one who 
had suffered a repulse, or been disappointed of his hopes ? 
Behold, I am ready to obey whatever Thou shalt enjoin ; if 
it be to quit the stage, I go. But, before I leave the world, 
I render to Thee my most humble thanks that Thou hast 
been pleased to admit me into this theatre, to be an admirer 
and spectator of Thy works." 

Many others, however, were mere infidels. But even the 
philosophers generally conformed outwardly to the religion 
of the people. They were very tolerant, and never Toleration 
interfered with the religion of the people they con- 
quered, unless it prevented them from obeying the laws and 
living orderly lives. In fact, they were quite ready to adopt 
and believe in the gods of other nations as well as their own. 
No doubt this, and their dissatisfaction with the old reli- 
gion, prepared the way for their accepting Christianity. 
We know there were a great many Christians in Rome 
even in St. Paul's time, and that their religion, in spite of 
persecutions, finally took entire possession of the Roman 
world. 

The Romans were the wisest and best makers of laws the 
world had ever seen. Indeed, all modern Europe Laws 
has learned more or less from them, and many na- 
tions, especially of the so-called Latin races, are still gov- 
erned almost entirely by the Roman or civil laws, though 
in England the origin of law is quite different. We can 
see in the New Testament how in general the Roman gov- 
ernors were on the side of justice against the tyrannous big- 
otry of the Jews. Pontius Pilate would have liked to 
save Christ ; he knew that He had done nothing w T orthy of 
death, and it was only because he lacked firmness that he 
gave way. And the various Roman governors and officers 
of whom we read in the Acts were, on the whole, far more 
just and fair than the leading Jews. " It is not the manner 
of the Romans," said Festus, " to deliver any man to die, 
before that he which is accused have the accusers face to 
face, and have license to answer for himself concerning 
the crime laid against him." And we remember how when 
the Jews at Jerusalem saw the chief captain and the Roman 
soldiers "they left beating of Paul." 

To be a Roman citizen was a great honor and privilege. 
The Romans were very liberal in granting this favor. 



14 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

First, they gave it to all the freemen of Rome ; then to all 
the dwellers in the province of Latium, in which Rome 
stood ; then to all Italy. Afterwards it was given to many 
people and cities in conquered provinces. St. Paul, " a He- 
brew of the Hebrews," was a Roman too (Acts 16 : 37). 

The Romans were in one thing very like the English. 
They had great skill and aptitude for colonizing. 
Co omes. <^ ome p e0 pl have the power of taking root in 
other lands and making a home there, taking their language, 
customs, and religion with them. In modern days no people 
have done this like the English. The Greeks were the first 
colonizers, and after them the Romans. It was for the in- 
terests of the colonists to live in friendship with the natives; 
they were farmers and merchants, and so gained a great in- 
fluence for their nation, besides what was acquired by fight- 
ing and conquering. In after times they had nine colonies 
in Britain, some of which are large cities now, as London, 
Bath, Chester, and Lincoln. By degrees the conquered 
and civilized people of the provinces were promoted to 
honor and trust; they were not only allowed to be citizens, 
but to command legions, and to have seats in the senate of 
Rome. Afterwards some of them even rose to be emperors; 
but at this period there were no emperors ; the govern- 
ment had been republican for hundreds of years. The 
conquered provinces also learned to speak Latin like their 
conquerors. In some of these countries the language is still 
a modified Latin, as in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and 
some others. All these languages are called Romance, be- 
cause they all came from the Romans. 

Their language is a grand and beautiful one, and they 

have left us many noble books of history, poetry, geography, 

and philosophy. They were fond of fine buildings, stately 

temples, arches, and theatres. Their houses were 

and 6S very handsome, and ornamented with pictures and 

habits, gtatues. Some of them, though not the finest, were 
buried under the ashes of Vesuvius, at Pompeii, and kept 
in beautiful preservation for 1800 years, with the paintings 
still on the walls. 

They spent immense sums of money in bringing pure 
water to their towns, and making delightful baths. They 
were also great travellers, and they made the finest roads the 
world has ever seen. Some of those they made are still ex- 
isting ; quite a number of them in England. 



THE ROMANS. 15 

The ladies (like all other ladies in the world, I suppose) 
were fond of fine clothes and ornaments, and the Senate or 
Parliament tried to put some stop to their extravagance. 
They wore silk dresses when they could get them; but a 
pound's weight of silk in those days was worth a pound's 
weight of gold. It was considered an ornament to a lady 
to wear silk, but a disgrace to a man. Pearls and diamonds 
they also sought after ; indeed, it was partly to look after 
pearls that they came to Britain, though it seems they did 
not find any worth having. They got them from Cape Co- 
morin, as we do. 

The Romans, from being travellers and colonists, became 
acquainted with many fruits and plants which did not grow 
naturally in Italy and other parts of Europe, and these they 
brought home and planted in their gardens and orchards. 
They were the first to plant in Europe apricots, peaches, 
and oranges. They also planted vines in .places where they 
had never been heard of before, but where they still flourish 
and produce fine wines, as in Burgundy. They studied, too, 
how to improve the feed of cattle, and brought different 
sorts of grasses and other herbs from foreign parts, such as 
lufcsrn, which is still in use. 

The description thus far is of a brave, honorable, and on 
the whole a just nation (allowing for the universal feeling 
about war at that time), and which really did great good in 
the world ; but cruel elements in their character and some 
savage customs prevailed, which are painful to recall. 

The first is, that they had immense numbers of slaves. In 
the old and warlike times, if the conquerors did not 
kill the conquered, they always made slaves of them ; 
that was sometimes from mercy and pity, and sometimes 
for convenience. So that in all old histories, that of Eng- 
land included, we shall find there was a large class of 
slaves. 

A slave could be bought for about three shillings, when an 
ox cost tenpence; and what with buying and conquering, 
and the slaves themselves multiplying, the Romans had at 
this time avast number of them; one single family possessed 
400. Among these, strange as it may appear, there were 
some very well-educated and superior people. Some were 
7^- doctors, some were tutors to the children, some were artists. 
Most likely this class of slaves were generally treated with 
great kindness and respect, but the lower ones were often 



16 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

used very cruelly. When they became old and useless, the 
masters used to put them on an island in the river, and leave 
them to perish. The ladies would sometimes tear their 
faces, or pierce their flesh with the long pins of their brooches. 
One slave was crucified for killing and eating a favorite 
tame bird. If a master was murdered, there was a law that 
all the slaves in the house, unless in chains or quite helpless 
through illness, should be put to death. Still, probably these 
great cruelties were the exception, and not the rule. 

As for the amusements of the Romans, it is almost incred- 
ible how horrible they were. One of their great delights 
was to see wild beasts tear each other to pieces. They had 

Amuse- fights of bears and bulls ; also of elephants, tigers, 

ments. giraffes, even crocodiles and serpents. Three or 
four hundred bears might be killed in a single day; or they 
would have four hundred tigers fighting with bulls and ele- 
phants. On one great occasion no less than five thousand 
animals perished. 

Sometimes they would have men — poor slaves — brought 
from foreign lands to fight with the wild beasts. They 
would dress criminals in the skins of animals, and throw 
them to bulls, which were maddened by red-hot irons. 
Even women would sometimes fight, and one is said to have 
killed a lion. Some of the great theatres where these dread- 
ful "games" took place are still existing. The largest of 
these is called the Coliseum, at Rome, and would hold more 
than 80,000 people. 

At other times, instead of wild beasts, they would have 
men fighting with one another. These men were called 
gladiators or swordsmen. There were many thousands of 
them, Mho were trained very carefully to kill one another 
for the pleasure of the lookers-on. Lord Byron wrote these 
tender and indignant lines about a dying gladiator, which fill 
our hearts with a pity the Romans never felt : — 

" I see before rne the Gladiator lie; 
He leans upon his hand — his manly brow 
Consents to death, but conquers agony. 
And his droop'd head sinks gradually low — 
And through his side the last drops, ebbing slow 
From the red gash, fall heavy one by one, 
Like the first of a thunder-shower; and now 
The arena swims around him — he is gone 
Ere ceased the inhuman shout 
Which haiFd the wretch who won. , 



THE ROMANS. 17 

He heard it, but he heeded not — his eyes 
Were with his heart, and that was far away: 
He reck'd not of the life he lost, nor prize, 
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay. 
Titer e were his young barbarians all at play. 
There was their Dacian mother, — he, their sire, 
Butcher'd to make a Roman holiday! 7 ' 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BRITONS. 

The ancient Britons — their language, religion, education, commerce, and arts 
— their relations on the Continent — their connection with the great Aryan 
family — their descendants in the present day. 

It was about fifty-five years before the birth of Christ that 
Julius Caesar, one of the greatest of the Roman generals, 
was in France, or Gaul, as it was then called, with an army. 
B c 55 He was one of the most famous of the Romans ; not 
Julius ' only a victorious soldier, but also in other ways a 
Caesar. wonderful man. Some time afterwards he was 
killed in Rome, as we may read in Shakespeare's play; 
but we have nothing to do with that now. What most 
concerns us is that he himself wrote long and very inter- 
esting histories of his own Avars, of which some extracts 
will be given. It may be observed that he always speaks of 
himself in the third person ; so he does generally in Shakes- 
peare's play. 

The people of Gaul, though conquered, were not very 
submissive, and often gave the Romans trouble. They 
used to get help from some neighbors who were 
< ^Britafn d even fiercer and more turbulent than themselves. 
These neighbors came from over the sea ; but in 
some parts the strip of sea was so narrow that the Romans 
could look across from Gaul to the land opposite, as we can 
now look from Calais to Dover. The Romans, being great 
travellers, and very fond of exploring, must have found it a 
great temptation to see that land dimly in the distance. 
Was it an island? was it part of the Continent? who lived 
there? what grew there? At any rate these troublesome 
barbarians must be put down. 

Before this time there had been sometimes merchants 
coming and going. There was one thing to be got in 
Britain which was very rare everywhere else, ami, indeed, 
is so still, namely, tin. Nearly all the tin of commerce until 
quite lately came from Cornwall and the isles of Scilly, 
though much is now brought from the island of Banoa. 

IS 



THE BRITONS. 19 

It is almost certain that the " bronze " people, who lived not 
only in England, but also were scattered over great part of 
Europe, got the tin to mix with their copper from Cornwall. 
Most probably, also, the Phoenicians, who were the great 
traders of old, knew something of the southern parts of Bri- 
tain ; for, though the Romans were afraid of passing the " pil- 
lars of Hercules," the Phoenicians had founded a colony at 
Cadiz, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean ; and, as they 
were good sailors, these colonists might easily have found 
their way to Cornwall. But by this time the trade in tin, 
and perhaps in skins also, was carried on between the ports of 
Gaul and Britain. 

The people last mentioned in the first chapter were those 
who made bronze implements. The inhabitants of Britain 
had now learned to use iron. That is far more diffi- The 
cult to work than copper and tin ; so they must Britons, 
have improved greatly in skill, or they must have been 
another race of people. That question may be left for the 
present, while some account is given of the Britons, derived 
from Roman sources. 

The people were very brave, fierce, and quarrelsome; 
though Julius Caesar says that those who lived in Kent 
were the most civilized. He tells us that the island 
was well peopled and full of houses, built after the w ■ gs- 
manner of the Gauls. We learn from another Roman, 
Strabo, what sort of houses the Gauls had. They were con- 
structed of poles and wattled or hurdle work; round, and 
with lofty, tapering, and pointed roofs. They do not seem 
to have had any windows or chimneys, and must have looked 
rather like huge bee-hives. A very delightful old English 
writer, Fuller, who tells the history of Christianity in our 
island, describes the difference between a common house 
and a palace. The " palace," though also built of hurdle- 
work, was white, "because the rods whereof it was made 
were unbarked, having the rind stripped off, which was then 
counted gay and glorious." 

Cresar mentions the villages and towns, but adds, 
" What they call a town is a tract of woody country, sur- 
rounded by a wall or high bank, and a ditch for the security 
of themselves and their cattle against the incursions of 
enemies." * 

* The town was like a township in the United States, but inclosed. 



20 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

The more civilized people, in the south, understood some- 
thing about agriculture, manuring the land, and storing up 
. corn in underground granaries. None of the Brit- 
ons would eat hares, fowls, or geese ; but there were 
plenty of cattle all over the country, though at this time 
there were neither donkeys, cats, nor rats. The inland and 
more ignorant people never sowed their land or grew any 
corn, but lived by their flocks and herds, and by hunting. 
They wore coats of skins, and had their own skins painted 
blue with the juice of a plant. This, Caesar says, "makes 
them look dreadful in battle." 

However, they were not mere savages, as they could work 
in iron, could make wheeled carriages, and were, in particu- 

_ lar, very clever at basket-work. They could even 

make boats of wicker, covered with the skins of 
animals, and very good wooden boats also. A great many 
ancient boats and canoes have been dug up in different 
places, especially at Glasgow. Some of them were formed 
of a single oak stem, hollowed out by blunt tools, probably 
stone axes, aided by the action of fire. Some were cut 
beautifully smooth, and must have been made with tools of 
some metal. The first of these, most likely, belonged to the 
stone period, and the next to the bronze. Then there was 
one regularly built of planks, with ribs, and with prow and 
stern like ours. This was probably of the iron or British 
age ; it had been partly fastened with metal nails, but, as 
these had quite disappeared, we do not know if they were 
bronze or iron. 

Besides the domestic animals, there were a great many 

wild ones, which have now quite passed away from our 

State of i s l an ^ s '■> ns the brown bear, the wolf, the wild boar, 

the and the beaver (the town of Beverley is named 

country. fcx>m the beavers which used to live there). All 

these still live wild in other parts of the world, and it is 

less than two hundred years since the last wolf was killed in 

Scotland. 

Imagine England as it was then, compared with what 
it is now. Even in the most quiet and remote parts now 
there are peaceful fields with corn or grass, and bordered 
with hedges ; there are firm roads, safe foot-paths with 
gates or stiles ; churches, schools, pleasant houses and cot- 
tages, with their gardens and orchards. Many of the cot- 
tages are by no means what they ought to be, but they are 



THE BRITONS. 21 

" palaces " indeed to those damp and dark wattled huts 
standing in the midst of wild forests and marshes, un- 
drained, and full of fierce, wild creatures. 

Julius Cassar, who had been a great deal in Gaul, says 
that the people there had the same religion as the . 

Britons ; but Britannia was looked on as a sort of 
holy place, and those who wished to learn the religion most 
perfectly travelled there for instruction. This religion was 
sometimes called Druidism, and the priests were Druids, 
who, besides attending to sacred affairs, were judges of 
the people, and had charge of the education of the chil- 
dren. Csesar says they Worshipped Jupiter, Apollo, and 
the other gods of the Romans, but they certainly did not 
bear those names. He does not mention images, but they 
must have had a great many, for one of themselves, Gildas, 
writing some hundreds of years later, after they had long 
been Christians, says that " they almost surpassed in number 
those of Egypt," and might in his day (A.D. 546) " be still 
seen mouldering within or without the deserted temples, 
with stiff and deformed features, as was customary." Ca?sar 
goes on to say that they offered human sacrifices, and though 
they chose as victims, by preference, robbers and other crimi- 
nals, yet, if there were none of these to be had, the innocent 
were often made to suffer. He says, " some prepare huge 
images of osier-twigs, into which they put men alive, and, 
setting fire to them, those within expire amidst the flames." 
It is now believed that these " images " were more like 
great pictures or outlines drawn on the ground, with osier 
fences around them, where the victims were burnt. 

They had a great reverence for some natural objects, 
especially running streams, trees, and serpents. The tree 
they most honored was the oak, and, still more than the oak, 
the mistletoe which grew on it. Though luistletoe often grows 
upon apple-trees, it is very uncommon upon oaks, and when- 
ever a plant of it was found on an oak-tree there was a 
grand ceremony. A solemn procession was formed, two 
white bulls were sacrificed, and the sacred plant cut with 
a knife of gold. It was considered to have wonderful and 
mysterious powers, and to cure diseases. Perhaps it really 
had some medicinal effect, for it has been used, even in mod- 
ern times, as good for epileps)-. 

The Druids kept a good part of their religion secret, 
as too sacred for the common people. It was often the case 



22 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOlfY. 

with old religions that there were certain mysteries belong- 
ing to them which only a few were allowed to know. Some 
people think that there were Druidesses as well as Druids ; 
but if there were, they were not told the secret doctrines; 
it appears to have been thought that women could not keep 
a secret. The Druids seem also to have been a kind of ma- 
gicians. In an old translation of the Bible into a branch 
of their language (the Irish), the magicians of Egypt are 
called the " Druids of Egypt," and the wise men from the 
East are called Druids also. 

Though their religion was in parts so cruel, and in parts 
so superstitious, they had some very good and great ideas. 
They believed in the immortality of the soul, and considered 
that this faith " contributes greatly to exalt men's courage 
by disarming death of its terrors." They studied astronomy 
and " the nature of things," and taught their pupils a great 
deal of history and poetry. 

As to their medicines, besides the mistletoe they used other 
herbs ; but they mixed up with the real use of the plant a 
great many magical notions. There were most minute and 
fantastic rules about the gathering of these plants. The 
person who collected them was sometimes to be dressed in 
white, or to have his feet bare : sometimes he must use 
his right hand, and sometimes his left. Sometimes he had 
to go by moonlight, or when some particular star might be 
seen in the sky ; at other times he might go in the sunshine. 
Sometimes he would have to fast before he might venture 
to touch them. Some of these superstitions have gone on 
through many centuries of Christianity. Even now we 
occasionally hear of " wise " men and women working 
marvellous cures, and who practise something very like 
them. 

The origin of the Britons cannot be shown by the usual 
. . historical methods, but by the aid of the science 

ngl ' of language, and by certain sure analogies in the 
history of other nations, we are able to state with confi- 
dence certain general facts. 

The conclusion to which historians and philologists have 

come is that all the nations of Europe belong to one great 

family, which is called the Aryan family, and they 

Th famify an are a ^ bloud relations to one another. We know 

this from the kinship of their languages. Here are 

a few of these common words in some of the principal 



THE BRITONS. 



23 



languages of Europe, and it will be seen how much they 
resemble each other: — 



IXGLISH. 


Latin. 


Greek. 


Germ ax. 


Father 


Pater 


Pater 


Eater 


Mother 


Mater 


Meter 


Mutter 


Daughter 




Thugater 


Tochter 


Night 


Noct- 


Nukt- 


Nacht 


One 


ures) 


En 


Ein 


Three 


Ties 


Treis 


Drei 


Eight 


()ct(o) 


Okt(6) 


Acht 



Some of our common words are very oddly spelt, and not at 
all according to the sound when they are spoken, as daugh- 
ter, eight, and night. But in German and Greek the let- 
ters which seem useless in English are really sounded ; 
and in the oldest of all the Aryan languages, an Indian 
one called Sanskrit, these words have nearly the same letters 
in them. The Sanskrit word for daughter, which is thou- 
sands of years old, is "duhitar," and the Sanskrit word 
for eight is "aght." 

These are only a few specimens, but there are really 
many more ; in fact, there is quite reason enough to convince 
learned men that all these nations, many of them living so 
far apart, and seeming so very different from each other, must 
have sprung from one stock or family, which is called the 
Aryan family. The word "Aryan," as far as can be made 
out, means "one who ploughs or tills." 

There was a time, then, at an immense and unknown dis- 
tance, when the forefathers of these nations, the Indians and 
Persians, Greeks, Italians, Germans, Slavs, French, and 
English, and others, were all one people, speaking one lan- 
guage, and living together somewdiere in Central 

Asia. But after a time there was a series of sepa- ,. The . 

^ ,, , ., , P .£ dispersion, 

rations. One after another, tribes and families 

parted off — some east, some west. Some went to India; 

some came to Europe. And they did not generally come 

into uninhabited lands, but into countries where there 

were people already living. These they either destroyed 

or drove into the farthest corners. Those who went to India 

pushed the old inhabitants down southward. Those who 

came into Europe, and from whom we descend, pushed the 

old inhabitants westward. 

It appears that the first of the Aryans who came into 



"24 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Europe were a tribe or race called Celts ; * they certainly 
came farther west than any of the others. They 
settled themselves in parts of Italy, parts of Spain, 
in France, in England, Ireland, and Scotland. These were 
the people whom the Romans found in Britannia, and who 
are called the Britons ; and we know that they were an Aryan 
race by their language. There are plenty of people living 
still who speak the same language (though the English do 
not), viz., the Welsh, the Irish, the Highland Scotch, and 
some others. 

These Celts found in Spain, France, and Britain other 
people already settled, who were most likely the bronze or 
the neolithic people. No donbt they killed most of them, 
but some are believed to be living in Europe still, in the 
Basque provinces, in the northwest corner of Spain ; and 
their language, which is not an Aryan language at all, is 
most likely the same old language which the makers of the 
bronze implements spoke. 

It must now be explained why it is supposed that some of 
the English are partly descended from these old races. It is 
because there are two types or kinds of people in England, 
as well as in other parts of Europe, who are very 
T races!° different from one another in appearance. One 
tall, large, fair-complexioned, with light or red hair 
and blue or gray eyes ; the other short, dark-complexioned, 
with dark hair and dark eyes. They are so unlike each 
other, that if we were not accustomed to them Ave should 
almost be obliged to think they belonged to different nations. 
Of course there are now all sorts of connecting links : 
some dark people are tall; some fair people are short; but 
if we went along the eastern coast of England, and noticed the 
people born and bred there, Ave should find nearly all of them 
tall, fair, and blue-eyed ; Avhile in South Wales Ave should find 
nearly all short, wiry, and dark. The Eomans found just the 
same distinctions when' they came to England. Tacitus 
savs some had large limbs and red hair; some had tawny 
complexions and dark, frizzly hair. Those who have studied 
the subject say that the Aryan people — the Celts — Avei-e 
the tall, fair ones ; and the bronze or neolithic people, 
whose land they took, Avere the short, dark ones. The 

* This word should he Kelts ; but the false spelling is firmly etsab- 
lished by long, though ignorant, usage. 



THE BRITONS. 25 

neolithic men, it will be remembered, were only about five 
feet five inches high, as is shown by their skeletons; their 
sword-handles, too, are small. And the Basque people are 
mostly dark and small. 

Evidently in Britain the Celts so thoroughly conquered 
the old inhabitants, that, though they did not destroy them 
all, they quite put an end to their old speech, and when the 
Romans came they found no language spoken except differ- 
ent varieties of Celtic. 

But we have not" even yet arrived at the people whom 
we must call our real, true forefathers. They were far 
away from Britain until long after this time. 



CHAPTER IV. 



TIIE ROMANS EN imiTAIN. 



Julius Caesar in Gaul. Invasion of Britain. Agricola. Progress of 
Civilization. Introduction of Christianity. 

Before the time when Julius Caesar came, there is no writ- 
ten history of Britain. But, a very long time after he went 
away, people began to make up a pretended history of the 
Britons. It could not be a true one, because the writers had 
no means of knowing what had happened, or the names and 
exploits of kings who had lived and died (if they ever lived 
at all) hundreds of years before. There may, indeed, have 
been traditions ; but if we consider how stories are changed 
in repetition, Ave shall see that we cannot put any faith in 
those old tales. King Lear and his daughters are said to 
have lived in the times they describe ; and their story is very 
interesting, though almost certainly it is not true as history.* 
This is what Julius Caesar himself tells us about his first 
r coming to Britain : " Though but a small part of the 
The Roman summer now remained, for in those regions, Gaul 
invasion, stretching very much to the north, the winters 
begin early, Caesar nevertheless resolved to pass over into 
Britain, having certain intelligence that in all his wars with 
the Gauls the enemies of the commonwealth had ever re- 
ceived assistance from thence. He indeed foresaw that the 
season of the year would not permit him to finish the war ; 
j'et he thought it would be of no small advantage if he 
should but take a view of the island, learn the nature of the 
inhabitants, and acquaint himself with the coasts, harbors, 
and landing-places, to all which the Gauls were perfect 
strangers ; for almost none but merchants resort to that 

* Still more distant and absurd is the story of the grandson of 
^Eneas, Brut, and his corning to England, which was the subject of a 
poem in later times. 

26 



THE ROMANS IX BRITAIN. li i 

island, nor have even they any knowledge of the country, 
except the sea-coast, and the parts opposite to Gaul. Hav- 
ing, therefore, called together the merchants from all parts, 
they could neither inform him of the largeness of the island, 
nor what or how powerful the nations were that inhabited it, 
nor of their customs, arts of war, or the harbors fit to re- 
ceive large ships. For these reasons, before he himself em- 
barked, he thought proper to send C. Volusenus with a galley 
to get some knowledge of these things, commanding him, as 
soon as he had informed himself in what he wanted to know, 
to return with all expedition." 

When Volusenus returned, giving what information he 
could (which was not much, for he had been afraid to leave 
his ship, or trust himself in the hands of the barbarians), 
Caesar made all preparations for the crossing. "He weighed 
anchor about one in the morning, and about ten o'clock 
reached the coast of Britain, where he saw all the cliffs" (the 
tall, white cliffs of Dover) " covered with the enemy's forces. 
The nature of the place was such that, the sea being 
bounded by steep mountains, the enemy might easily launch 
their javelins on us from above. Not thinking this, there- 
fore, a convenient landing-place," he sailed about eight miles 
farther, " stopping over against a plain and open shore. 
But the barbarians, perceiving our design, sent their cav- 
alry and chariots before, which they frequently made use of 
in battle, and following with the rest of their forces endeav- 
ored to oppose our landing; and, indeed, we found the 
difficulty very great on many accounts, for our ships, being 
large, required a great depth of water, and the soldiers, who 
were wholly unacquainted with the places, and had their 
hands embarrassed, and laden with a weight of armor, were 
at the same time to leap from the ships, stand breastdiigh 
amidst the waves, and encounter the enemy ; while they, 
fighting on dry ground, or advancing only a little way into 
the water, having the free use of all their limbs, and in 
places which they perfectly knew, could boldly cast their darts 
and spur on their horses, well inured to that kind of service. 
All these circumstances served to spread a terror among our 
men." 

The soldiers seeming to hang back, and " demurring to leap 
into the sea, the standard-bearer of the tenth legion, hav- 
ing first invoked the gods for success, cried out aloud, ' Follow 
me, fellow-soldiers, unless you will betray the Roman eagle 



28 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

into the hands of the enemy; for my part, I am resolved to 
discharge my duty to Caesar and the commonwealth.' On 
this he jumped into the sea, and advanced with the eagle 
against the enemy; whereat, our men, exhorting one another 
to prevent so signal a disgrace, all that were in the ship fol- 
lowed him; which being perceived by those in the nearest 
vessels, they also did the like, and boldly approached the 
enemy." 

Thus the Romans first set foot on British ground, from 

which they did not finally go away for nearly five 
D ties Ul " hundred years, though they had many a hard fight 

before they could establish themselves. Caesar had 
the greatest trouble with his ships, for the storms of these 
northern seas broke so many of them to pieces ; and the 
Roman sailors Avere greatly puzzled by the tides, for they were 
most accustomed to the Mediterranean Sea, where there 
are no very observable tides. Caesar says, "That very night 
it happened to be full moon, when the tides on the sea-coast 
always rise highest — a thin;/ at that time xcholhj unknown to 
the liomans." The war-chariots were quite new to the 
Roman soldiers, and terrified them very much. " Their way 
of fighting with their chariots is this : first they drive their 
chariots on ail sides, and throw their darts ; insomuch that 
by the very terror of the horses and noise of the wheels they 
often break the ranks of the enemy. When they have forced 
their way into the midst of the cavalry they quit their chari- 
ots, and fight on foot ; meantime the drivers retire a little 
from the combat, and place themselves in such a manner as 
to favor the retreat of their countrymen, should they be 
overpowered by the enemy. Thus in action they perform the 
part both of nimble horsemen and stable infantry; and by 
continual exercise and use, have arrived at that expertness, 
that in the most steep and difficult places they can stop their 
horses on a full stretch, turn them which way they please, run 
along the pole, rest on the harness, and throw themselves 
back into their chariots with incredible dexterity." It has 
been said that these chariots had sharp-cutting scythes fixed 
on to the wheels and other parts, but it does not seem quite 
certain that this is true, as Caesar tells us nothing about them, 
which he would most likely have done when he was describing 
them so carefully. 

With all his courage and skill, Caesar could not make much 
headway ; he got once as far as St. Albans, but he never 



THE ROMANS IX BRITAIN. 29 

really conquered Britain. It was about one hundred years 

after his first coming that the Romans sent another 

great army, which really did subdue a good part of r ^tsuace 

the island. One of the most celebrated British chiefs 

was a man named Caradoc, which the Romans lengthened out 

into Caractacus. He led his men very gallantly against the 

Romans, but at last was taken prisoner, and sent with all his 

family to Rome. In this calamity he behaved with such 

calmness and dignity that the people of Rome were struck 

with admiration, and gave him his liberty. 

Another famous British leader was a woman, Queen Bud- 
dug, improved by the Romans into Boadicea. She may 
fairly be called a great heroine ; but she too was vanquished, 
and they say poisoned herself for shame and sorrow. It 
shows how completely afterwards the Britons submitted to 
the Romans, both in body and mind, that one of them, 
Gildas, who wrote a history of these times, calls Boadicea, 
his own country-woman, fighting for her liberty, " a deceitful 
lioness," and her people " crafty foxes." 

The best of all the Roman governors who were sent to 
Britain, and the one who finally established the Ro- 
man dominion, was Agricola. We have his life, writ- A^ricol^.' 
ten by his own son-in-law, the great historian, Taci- 
tus, who has been already mentioned. He had the deepest 
respect and affection for him. He tells us of his bravery, 
modesty, and wisdom, of his skill in war and in the arts of 
government, and a great deal of this praise seems really to 
have been deserved. He completed the conquest of south- 
ern Britain, and pushed a long way into Scotland, as far as 
the Grampian Hills. Here there was a terrible fight between 
the Romans and the natives, whose general was named Gal- 
gacus. Tacitus, most likely, heard all about this from Agri- 
cola himself, and gives a spirited account of the battle, and 
of the stirring speeches which the two leaders made to their 
armies. The fight was a very obstinate and fierce one, but 
when night came the Romans were victorious, and the Brit- 
ons fled. In their despair they set fire to their houses ; some 
even " murdered their children and wives as an act of com- 
passion and tenderness. The next day produced a more 
ample display of the victory; on all sides a profound silence, 
solitary hills, thick smoke rising from the houses on fire, and 
not a living soul to be found by the scouts." 

Nevertheless, these northerners were never really sub- 



30 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOKY. 

dued, and at last Agricola resolved to leave them in pos- 
session of their wild mountainous country, building a wall 

to prevent them from coming farther south. This 
man wails. wa ^ stretched between the mouths of the rivers 

Forth and Clyde, and was rather a line of forts 
than what we now call a wall. But it was found impos- 
sible to keep nil that region in subjection, even as far 
north as the wall ; and some years later the Emperor Ha- 
drian gave up a good deal of it, and built another wall much 
farther south, between the Solway and the Tyne. The place 
where the best coals come from is just in that neighborhood, 
and is still called "Wallsend." 

Agricola appears to have been a really kind and wise 
ruler over those who were once conquered. As he knew 
that "little is gained by arms where grievances and oppres- 
sions follow, he determined to cut off all the causes of war. 
. . . Beginning, therefore, with himself, and those apper- 
taining to him, he checked and regulated his own household 
— a task which to many proves not less difficult than that 
of governing a province. . . . All that passed he would 
know, though all that was amiss he would not punish. Upon 
small offences he bestowed pardon ; for such as were great 
he exercised proportionable severity." 

Though it had long been believed that Britain was an 

island, it was not till Agricola's time that it became 

Britain an fjnallv known and established. Agricola sent ships 

island. , * , , , i 'T. n • i tx 

from a place supposed to have been .Sandwich Haven, 

and they sailed on and on all round the north of Scotland, 

discovering the Orkney Islands, till they returned to the 

same place from which they had started. When in those 

northern regions they noticed how long the days were, but 

do not seem to have been aware that this was only in the 

summer-time, and that they paid for it by very long nights 

in winter. " Their days in length surpass ours. Their 

nights are very clear, and at the extremity of the country 

very short, so that between the setting and return of day 

you perceive but small interval. They affirm, that were it 

not for the intervention of clouds the rays of the sun would 

be seen in the night, and that he doth not rise or fall, but 

only pass by; for that the extremities of the earth, which 

are level, yielding but a low shadow, prevent darkness from 

rising high and spreading." 

Having established peace, Agricola regulated the taxes 



THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN. 31 

more justly, and would not allow extortion. He also tried 

to tame and teach the wild Britons. The lower 

people were employed in draining bogs and making Britons 

firm and excellent paved roads. Some of these roads become 

... . . - 1 t-! i n • ii i-i civilized, 

are still existing m Ji,ngland, especially one which 

was called Watling Street, and which extended all across 

England, from Dover, through London, to Chester. There 

is a very rough old stone to be seen in Cannon Street 

(which is now built up into a church to preserve it), which 

is called London Stone, and is believed to be the old Roman 

milestone from which all the distances were measured. 

He also encouraged and helped the Britons to build 
temples, halls, and comfortable houses, like those the Ro- 
mans lived in. These were very large and handsome, built 
round a courtyard, like the colleges at Oxford and Cam- 
bridge, and with fine pavements inlaid. Part of these pave- 
ments, and other things which have been buried in the suc- 
ceeding centuries, are often dug up now in London and other 
places. They made also large and beautiful baths, which 
seemed to have been something like the Turkish baths in 
modern use. One of them is still to be seen at Chester. 

All this was a great contrast to those wattled huts of the 
Britons, and many of the people took to the Roman manners 
very kindly. Agricola took care to have the sons of the 
chiefs taught Latin, and the other things the Romans learnt ; 
he says they were cleverer than the Gauls ; and in time they 
grew proud of speaking like the Romans, and dressing like 
them, instead of wearing skins and dying their bodies with 
woad. With all this they unfortunately learned also a great 
deal of vice and luxury, and, as Agricola expected, became 
far less brave and warlike; we shall hear, in the end, how 
helpless they were when left to themselves. The civilization 
which is forced on people from without is never so lasting 
or so beneficial as that to which they attain by a natural de- 
velopment. 

Far better than all the arts and luxuries which the Britons 
learnt from the Romans was the religion. Many 
Romans, by this time, had given up their old reli- tFo t n < of UC " 
gion and had become Christians, having been taught Christian- 
by St. Paul certainly, and perhaps by St. Peter also. lty ' 
It was never known exactly how Christianity was first 
taught to the Britons ; but it was certainly not by Agricola, 
or any of the great men, for they had not yet learned it 



32 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

themselves, nor taken any notice of it ; but, no doubt, many 
of the Roman soldiers and colonists who had been converted 
brought it with them. It is generally thought that a British 
lady is mentioned in the Bible — Claudia, in 2 Tim. 4: 21. 
It is even supposed that she may have been one of the fam- 
ily of Caradoe, who had been taken prisoners to Rome. It 
is known that a Roman gentleman, Pudens, had married a 
British woman named Claudia, and both are mentioned by 
Martial, a Roman poet. 

The first Christian church in our country was built at 
Glastonbury (the tale was that Joseph of Arimathaea built 
it, directed by the angel Gabriel). Glastonbury was at that 
time a desolate island, full of fens and brambles ; and the 
church was built, like the British houses, of wicker-work, 
or rods wattled and interwoven. It was sixty feet long 
and twenty-five broad. In this the early Christians iV watched, 
fasted, prayed, and preached; having, 1 ' says Fuller, "high 
meditations under a low roof, and large hearts within narrow 
walls." 

Though the Roman authorities were generally so tolerant 

of other religions, they began after a time to perse- 
Persecu- cu ^ e the Christians. The reason seems to have been, 

that though they were quite willing to admit other 
gods side by side with their own, it was only on the supposi- 
tion that the old gods did not lose their worship. But 
Christianity could not be received on those terms. The early 
Christians and Fathers of the Church did not look on the 
heathen deities as mere fables and shadows ; they believed 
that they really existed, but were devils, and they taught that 
the gods of Rome and of all other nations must be utterly 
renounced. Thus Christianity came to be looked on as dan- 
gerous to the established order of things and to the empire. 
The heaviest and worst of the persecutions was under 

the Emperor Diocletian, and this was the first one 
304. that reached Britain. This chapter may end with 
n ' Fuller's account of the first Christian martyr in 
England. It is a pity that it is so mixed with fables* " The 
first Briton which to heaven led the van of the noble army 
of martyrs was Alban, a wealthy inhabitant of Verulam- 
cestre. . . . His conversion happened on this manner : Am- 
phibalus, a Christian preacher of Caerleon, in Wales, was fain 
to fly from persecution into the eastern part of this island, and 
was entertained by Alban in his house in Verulam. Soon 



THE ROMANS IN BRITAIN. 33 

did the sparks of this guest's zeal catch hold on his host, and 
inflamed him with love to the Christian religion. . . . Not 
long after, a search being made for Amphibaltts, Alban 
secretly and safely conveyed him away, and, exchanging 
clothes with him, offered himself for his guest to the pagan 
officers, who at that instant were a-sacrificing to their devil- 
gods ; where not only Alban, being required, refused to 
sacrifice, but also he reproved others for so doing, and there- 
upon was condemned to most cruel torments. But he con- 
quered their cruelty with his patience ; and though they 
tortured their brains to invent tortures for him, he endured 
all with cheerfulness, till rather their weariness than pity 
made them desist. And here we must bewail that we want 
the true story of this man's martyrdom, which impudent 
monks have mixed with so many improbable tales that it is 
a torture to a discreet ear to hear them. However, we will 
set them down as we find them. . . Alban being sentenced 
to be beheaded, much people flocked to the place of his 
execution, which was on a hill called Holm-hurst ; to which 
they were to go over a river, where the narrow passage 
admitted of very few abreast. Alban being to follow after 
all the multitude, and perceiving it would be very late before 
he could act his part, and counting every delay half a denial 
(who will blame one for longing to have a crown?), by his 
prayer obtained that the river, parting asunder, afforded free 
passage for many together. . . . The sight hereof so wrought 
with him who was appointed to be his executioner, that he 
utterly refused the employment, desiring rather to die with 
him, or for him, than to offer him any violence. Yet soon 
was another substituted in his place, for some cruel Doeg 
will quickly be found to do that office which more merciful 
men decline. 

" Alban, at the last, being come to the top of the hill, was 
very dry, and desirous to drink. Wonder not that he, 
being presently to taste of joys for evermore, should wish 
for fading water. Sure he thirsted more for God's glory, 
and did it only to catch hold of the handle of an occasion 
to work a miracle for the good of the beholders. For pres- 
ently, by his prayer, he summoned up a spring to come forth 
on the top of the hill, to the amazement of all that saw it. 
Yet it moistened not his executioner's heart with any pity, 
who, notwithstanding, struck off the head of that worthy 
saint, and instantly his own eyes fell out of his head, so that 



34 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

he could not see the villainy which he had done. Presently 
after, the former convert executioner, who refused to put 
Albau to death, was put to death himself — baptized, no 
doubt, though not with water, in his own blood." 

The stately abbey of St. Alban's marks the spot where his 
martyrdom took place. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE TEUT0XS. 

The decay of the Roman empire. Origin of the English people. The 
Germans, or Teutons — their laws, manners, language, and religion. 

As the Roman empire seemed to have become too large 
to be conveniently governed by one man living at Rome, 
it was divided by Diocletian into four parts, which we may 
call provinces, each of which had its own sub-emperor, 
though all were still considered as one empire, and there 
wag one chief or supreme emperor. One of the jn*ovinces 
consisted of Britain, Gaul, and Spain ; and the governor or 
sub-emperor (Caesar, as he Avas called) lived very often at 
York, then called Eboracum. 

Constantine the Great, who was the first Christian em- 
peror, was for a long time sub-emperor of this wes- 
tern province, and lived at York. Afterwards the 
whole empire was joined into one again under his rule, and 
it was he who founded as its capital the beautiful city of Con- 
stantinople, or city of Constantine. 

But we are now coming to the time wdien great disasters 
befell this mighty empire ; when it met with its strongest 
enemies, who finally broke it to pieces and planted them- 
selves on its ruins. And among these enemies, whom Rome 
could never conquer, but who conquered Rome, were our 
forefathers — the true forefathers of the English people. 
Though there is reason to believe that we are in some small 
part descended from the pre-historic men of the stone or bronze 
age, and from the Celts or Britons, yet the main stock from 
which we spring, and from whom Ave haA r e our language, our 
manners, and our government, are the people whom Ave are 
now about to consider. 

This, Avhich is called the Teutonic race, Avas a branch, and 
one of the greatest branches, of the Aryan family. The 
At the time we first hear of them they Avere, like Teutons. 

35 



36 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

other nations in the beginning of their history, wild and 
barbarous people. They came into Europe some time after 
the Celts. They were living north of the Danube, east 
of the Rhine, in Denmark, and in other northern parts. We 
know by their language that they were all one race, though 
separated into many tribes. 

The principal Teutonic nations are now called the 
German, Dutch, English, American, Danish, Swedish, and 
Norwegian. In old times the principal tribes were called 
Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, Lombards, Saxons, and An- 
gles. Tacitus says that " Germany " was a name newly 
invented in his time. 

The word "Teuton" is believed by some authorities to 
mean "speaking plain." These rough, wild people thought, 
as other uncultivated people do, that their language was the 
only plain one, and all others were gibberish. Even now we 
may find English people calling other languages "gabble" 
or " chatter." 

The syllable "Teut" or "Deut" meant clear; as we may 
see in the German word " deutlich," plain or evident. " Ish " 
is a mere termination, which we still use in fool-ish, Eng-lish, 
Dan-ish. So they would say Deut-ish — Deutsch or Dutch. 

These people, then, who talked plain, the Teutons or 
Dutch, began about the time of the birth of Christ to be very 
troublesome to the Romans; and so they continued, very 
often being beaten, but never being conquered, until the time 
at which we have now arrived ; and it was owing to them that 
the Romans went away from the island at last, leaving room 
for them to come afterwards and turn Britain into England. 

We learn most about them from Tacitus, who wrote the 
life of Agricola. He, Avho evidently took a great interest in 
the different nations the Romans had to do with, wrote, also, 
a long and very interesting description of the Germans, little 
thinking that these wild people, whom he, as a philosopher, 
looked upon with curiosity and interest, would after a time 
be the conquerors and successors of his own great nation. 

Tacitus had complained a good deal of the climate of 
Briton as being dull, dam]), and hazy. But the climate of 
Germany did not please him any better. " Besides the dan- 
gers from a sea tempestuous, horrid, and unknown, who 
would relinquish Asia, Africa, or Italy to repair to Germany 
— a region hideous and rude, under a rigorous climate, dis- 
mal to behold or to cultivate, unless the same were his native 



THE TEUTONS. 37 

country ? Their land, taken altogether, consists of horrid 
forests and nasty marshes." 

The Germans, or Teutons, were in appearance much like 
the Celts, being descendants from the same Aryan . 

stock ; he says they all " had eyes stern and blue, appear- 
yellow hair, and huge bodies." Both the Gauls and ance - 
the Germans were superior to the Romans in one point, 
namely, the use of soap, though it does not seem quite clear 
whether they employed it wholly for cleanliness, or partly 
for the purpose of reddening their hair. A strong soap, 
with plenty of lime or soda in it, reddens the hair, and they 
appear to have thought it made them look more fierce and 
terrible. However, they certainly cared something about 
cleanliness also; for Tacitus tells us, in another place, that 
"the moment they rise from sleep they bathe; most fre- 
quently in warm water, as in a country where the winter is 
long and severe." 

One very great and good point of the German character 

was the honor they paid to women. They were 

almost the only barbarians who were content with TIie 
j < t women. 

one wife ; though even with them the kings or 
chiefs had more, as a dignity. They respected their women 
extremely, and were very careful of the honor and virtue of 
their wives and daughters; so much so, that it was found by 
the Romans to be the greatest safeguard to take hostages 
from among their daughters. 

When they went to battle their wives and children were 
lodged near to the field, and to each man "these are the wit- 
nesses whom he most reverences and dreads; these yield 
him the praises which affect him the most. Their wounds 
or maims they carry to their mothers or to their wives ; and 
these administer to their husbands and sons, whilst engaged 
in battle, meat and encouragement. Some armies, yielding 
and ready to fly, have been by the women restored through 
their inflexible importunities and entreaties. Captivity is 
far more dreaded by the Germans when it befalls their 
women." 

If the women had to be so courageous, Ave may suppose 

what sort of fighters the men would be. " Many who 

have escaped in the day of battle have hanged ,„3L, 
.1 i c . *', ,..„ s warriors, 

themselves to put an end to their mfamy. . . . 

In the day of battle it is scandalous to the prince to be 

surpassed in feats of bravery, scandalous to his followers to 



38 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

fail in matching the bravery of their prince. But it is infamy 

during life, and indelible reproach, to return alive from a 

battle where their prince was slain." Though they were so 

energetic in war, a most extraordinary contrast appeared in 

times of peace. Then it seems that much more of their 

time they pass in indolence, resigned to sleep and repasts. 

All the most brave, all the most warlike, apply to nothing 

at all; but to their wives, to the ancient men, and to 

any, the most impotent domestic, trust all the care of 

their house, their lands and possessions. They themselves 

loiter." 

Their food was very simple ; it consisted mostly of 

wild fruit, cheese, venison, and grain. Some of 

F H jLv nd those who dwelt on the banks of the Rhine had 
drink. . -.-... . . . 

vines and made wine ; but the most common drink 

appeared rather curious to Tacitus. " For their drink they 

draw a liquor from barley, and ferment the same so as to 

make it resemble wine." This is still the national drink of 

the English people. 

They were a very social and hospitable race. "To refuse 
admitting under your roof any man whatsoever is held 
wicked and inhuman. Every man receives every comer, 
and treats him with repasts as large as his ability can pos- 
sibly furnish. When the whole stock is consumed, he who 
had treated so hospitably accompanies his guest to a new 
scene of hospitality, and both proceed to the next house, 
though neither of them were invited ; nor avails it that they 
were not ; they are received with the same frankness and 
humanity. . . . Their manner of entertaining their guests is 
familiar and kind." They were also fond both of giving and 
receiving presents. 

Besides what Tacitus tells us, we know something about 
their ways of life from a long poem of their own, 
which our forefathers brought with them when they 
came to England, and which contains the wonderful adven- 
tures of a great hero, Beowulf. In it there is an account of 
one of their festivals. All the company received gifts ; and 
besides eating and drinking, they were entertained with 
music and singing. The queen gave a mantle and collar 
to Beowulf, who was the principal guest, and with it a 
pretty little speech, containing some good advice. After 
bidding him be gentle and kind to her little sons, she 
adds — 



THE TEUTONS. 39 

" Here is every man To other true; 
Mild of mood; To his liege lord faithful; 
The thegns * are united, The people are prepared, 
The drunken vassals Do as I bid them." 

Thus we see how high a tone the German lady takes. But 
the last line shows us also the darker side of those feasts. 
Tacitus tells us the same. " To continue drinking night and 
day, without intermission, is a reproach to no man." And, 
as we should expect, this intemperate drinking led to high 
words, fighting and slaughter. 

Their dress consisted of a mantle, which is " what they 
all wear, fastened with a clasp, or, for want of that, 
with a thorn." They also used for ornament furs 
and the skins of sea-monsters ; perhaps these were seal-skins. 
The women dressed like the men, except that they wore 
linen, embroidered with purple. 

They hated cities, and loved to live apart. The older 
civilized people, the Greeks and the Romans, loved 
city life; that was their idea of civilization. People ^fo^' 
who lived in the country were rustics, and quite 
on a lower level. Another name they had for those who did 
not live in cities, but in villages or hamlets, was " pagan " 
(from the Latin pagus, a village). That word afterwards 
came to bear quite another sense, and meant an idolater. 
This shows us that when the Romans were beginning to 
learn Christianity, it was at first the more intelligent and 
the more civilized who were ready to believe it, while the 
ignorant people, who dwelt in the country, were content with 
the old religion. But the Teutons, who themselves liked 
living in villages and cultivating the ground, when they be- 
came Christians, had another name for those who still clung 
to the old gods. They called them " heathen," or dwellers 
in wild heaths and wildernesses, and these were just as 
much behind the more civilized among the Teutons as the 
pagans were behind the Roman citizens. 

It was, perhaps, one reason why the Greeks and Romans 
could not maintain their position in the world, that they 
were never able to get to the idea of a nation, never beyond 
that of a city; white the Teutons, who did not love cities, 
grew by degrees from families to tribes, from tribes to small 



* Or chiefs. 



40 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

kingdoms, and thence to great nations, as we shall see by 
and by in our English history. 

At the time of which Tacitus writes " they inhabited 
apart and distinct." Instead of cities, they planted villages 
in places where a fountain, a field, or wood invited them. 
They seem to have felt, as an Englishman does, that every 
man's house is his castle ; for the houses did not touch each 
other ; each one had a vacant place all round it. The vil- 
lages were also independent of one another, and each had 
its own free space bordering it on every side, a ring of 
common ground where they thought the fairies and spirits 
dwelt. This ring or border-land was called the mark or 
march ; if a stranger entered the march he had to blow a 
horn, for if he came in secretly every one had a right to 
kill him; which shows that they still* felt, as in old times, 
that unless they were of one family, or had made special 
agreements, every man was the enemy of every other 
man. 

The Teutons, who honored their wives so highly, thought 
also very much of other family ties. To kill infants 

Family Avas esteemed an abominable sin, whereas among 
the Romans, and many other nations, it was quite 
a common practice, and hardly at all blamable to kill them, 
especially girls. Mothers nourished their own children, and 
they were brought up in very hardy and healthy habits; the 
young lord and the young slave just in the same way until 
the proper time came to separate them. The family all 
hung together ; and each village or settlement was inhabited 
by relations. "All the enmities of your house, whether of 
your father or your kindred, you must adopt, as well as their 
friendships." If any one in the family did a wrong action, 
if he murdered or robbed a man of another family, it was 
not- looked on so much as his own deed as that of his whole 
family, his father, uncles, brothers, and cousins ; and the 
whole family had to make it good. All the members of a 
family were bound to protect each other from wrong, and, if 
possible, to hinder each other from evil-doing. 

They were above everything noted for their love of liberty, 
though, like the Romans, they possessed slaves, who were, 
probably, conquered captives at first. But they themselves 
were free. Each freeman had some land of his own, and had 
a share in the government. 

Even in those remote days may be seen something like 



THK TEUTONS. 41 

the British constitution. In nearly all the tribes there was 
a king, a small assembly of chiefs, elders, or wise men, and 
a great assembly of the whole people, of all the free- 
men. The House of Commons does not consist, in- Govern- 
deed, of all the people, because, of course, in a great 
country it is impossible for all to assemble; members of 
Parliament are, therefore, chosen or elected by the people to 
represent and speak for them. 

The king was elected, but always out of one family — a 
special family which was supposed to be descended from their 
principal god, Woden. 

The chiefs were chosen for their courage and talents, 
and were always followed by a band of brave and able Iree- 
men. They were called aldermen, or, in the old spelling, 
ealdormen (eldermen). In those days, age was supposed 
to confer wisdom, and elder or alderman was a title of 
honor. 

Among the freemen themselves there was a certain differ- 
ence of rank. Some were earls and sonie were churls. The 
earls were the most nobly born. The epithet " churl " only 
meant that a man was of lower rank. No doubt the higher- 
bred man was more polite ; and so to be less polite or less gen- 
erous came to be called "churlish." 

This old Parliament, when there was any important mat- 
ter to be decided, assembled in the open air. All the free- 
men both earls and churls, came armed, and sat down 
wherever they pleased. But it was only the king and the 
chiefs who spoke. They had probably already discussed the 
affair in private, and then stood forth, not to command, but to 
persuade the people. When they had explained what they 
wished to do, "if the proposition displease, they reject it by 
an inarticulate murmur; if it be pleasing, they brandish 
their javelins. The most honorable manner of signify- 
ing their assent is to express their applause by the sound 
of their arms." 

As to their language, their " plain speech," as they call it, 
the very first written specimen Ave have of it is a 
translation of the Bible, which was made for a tribe 
of the Goths, by their bishop Ulfilas, in the fourth century. 
We certainly should not be able to read it now, but we 
should find in it a great many words just like our own. The 
earliest written English also seems very different from our 
English. So does a child of a year old look very different 



42 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

from the man or woman of fifty ; nevertheless, it is only the 
same person at another age. And so, or almost so, is our 
English language as compared with the old English. Of 
the other Teutonic languages now existing, the German, 
Dutch, or Danish, we may say they are brothers or sisters, 
very much like each other, hut each with special differ- 
ences. 

There are a great many words which are almost exactly 
the same in English and German. Here are a few of the 
commonest : Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Neighbor, 
Friend, Man, House, Boat, Ship, Ox, Cow, Lamb, Mouse, 
Bread, Butter, Fish, Flesh, Arm, Hand, Shoulder, Finger, 
Good, Young, Fine. 

The Low Dutch, or language spoken in Holland, is still 
more like English than even the German, or High Dutch, as 
they call it themselves. 

With respect to their early religion, Tacitus says that, 
R .. . " from the grandeur and majesty of beings celestial, 
they judge it altogether unsuitable to hold the gods 
enclosed within walls, or to represent them under any human 
likeness." Still they seem to have had images, which they 
kept in groves and forests, but which they carried about with 
them Avhen they travelled. 

Their principal god was Odin, or Woden, from whom all 
their kings were supposed to be descended. He was the god 
of war, but they also believed that he had invented the let- 
ters of the alphabet. 

There is an interest attached to the name of their god Tin. 
The principal god of the Romans, as will be remembered, 
was Jupiter, the sky-father. The real word was Ju, to which 
piter, for pater, or father, was added. The same word came 
from the old Aryan stock to our forefathers also. In Sanskrit 
it was Dyu ; In Greek, Zeus ; in Latin, Ju ; in Teutonic, Tin. 
The French word for God, Dieu, again, is the same. All 
these have the same meaning of heaven, and God in 
heaven. Just as the Romans added the word " father " to 
the name of their god, so the Teutons also looked on Tin 
as their father. His son was Man us, or Man (the thinker). 
It is grand to find in these old religions how man loved to 
feel himself the son of God ! 

Our names for the days of the week, as is well known, 
were originally given in honor of the gods and goddesses of 
our forefathers. First, the sun and the moon ; then Tin ; 



THE TEUTONS. 43 

then Woden or Odin ; then Thor or Thunder, the god of 
storms ; next Frea or Friga, the goddess of peace and plenty ; 
and lastly, Soetere, of whom little if anything remains but 
his name. Their beautiful goddess of spring and dawn was 
Eostre, who still gives her name to the most joyful of the 
Christian festivals. 



j CHAPTER VI. 

THE COMING OP THE ENGLISH. 

Departure of the Romans. The Picts and Scots. The settlements of the English 
— their treatment of the Britons. Cerdic. Arthur. 

From the time of Tacitus onwards, the Teutonic tribes 
continued harassing the Roman empire, and by the begin- 
ning of the fifth century they were giving so much trouble, 
even in Italy itself, that the Romans wanted all their legions 
nearer home. They began to withdraw from their more dis- 
tant provinces, as from Roumania, which was then 
Departure called Dacia, and from Britain. Before they went 
of the away they repaired the wall of Hadrian from the 

XV 0111 cLIlS /~n 

Tyne to the Solway, as the northern barbarians were 
also growing more and more troublesome. The Romans 
fully meant to return, but they never did so. The Teutons 
spread everywhere. There were Goths in Italy and in Spain, 
Vandals in Africa, Franks in Gaul, and very soon Saxons 
and Angles in Britain. 

The Roman civilization forced on the Britons had done 
but little good, and much harm. They had been so long 
governed by others that they did not know how to govern 
themselves; they had been so used to be fought for that they 
had nearly forgotten how to fight for themselves. As soon 
as the strong hand, which had kept them under while pro- 
tecting them, was lifted off, everything seemed to fall to 
pieces. 

The Britons began to quarrel among themselves. Some, 

perhaps the least civilized of them, made friends 
Rets and -with the barbarians to the north, who were, of 

course, their kinsfolk. These barbarians, seeing the 
comforts and wealth of the civilized regions, where the Ro- 
manized Britons lived, soon managed to get over the Roman 
wall, and to make plundering expeditions into the very heart 
of the country. 

44 



THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH. 45 

The Romanized Britons hardly knew how to defend them- 
selves ; they had lost their savage courage, and had not learnt 
the Roman discipline. One of them, named Gildas, Avho is 
supposed to have lived in the sixth century, and who wrote 
a very curious history of the times after the departure of 
the Romans, gives an account of the northern enemies. 

We have now done with our Roman authorities, with 
Julius Caesar and Tacitus ; this is the first British book we 
have had. Gildas, however, wrote in Latin, though 
not in the masterly style of either Caesar or Tacitus. as * 

He evidently tried very hard to write in a fine manner; 
sometimes he appears to have attempted to imitate the old 
Hebrew prophets, and it is astonishing what a number of 
wicked kings and other people he found to denounce. 

This is a translation of his description of the Picts and 
Scots, as those northern invaders were called. " The Picts 
and Scots, like worms which in the heat of mid-day come forth 
from their holes, hastily land again from their canoes ; . . . 
differing from one another in manners, but inspired with the 
same avidity for blood, and all more eager to shroud their 
villainous faces in bushy hair than to cover with decent cloth- 
ing those parts of their body which required it. Moreover, 
having heard of the departure of our friends " (that is, of the 
Romans), " and their resolution never to return, they seized 
with greater boldness than before on all the country as far 
as the wall. To oppose them there was placed on the heights 
a garrison equally slow to right and ill-adapted to run away — 
a useless and panic-struck company, who slumbered away 
days and nights on their unprofitable watch. Meanwhile 
the hooked weapons of their enemies were not idle, and our 
wretched countrymen were dragged from the wall and 
dashed against the ground. . . . But why should I say more? 
They left their cities, abandoned the protection of the wall, 
and dispersed themselves in flight more desperately than 
before. The enemy, on the other hand, pursued them with 
more unrelenting cruelty than before, and butchered our 
countrymen like sheep." 

During all these troublous times we can see with reverence 
the influence of Christianity in the wonderful men who stood, 
as it w r ere, in the breach, to help the conquered, to tame and 
soften the conquerors. Probably great injustice has been 
done to the memoiy of these saints. Because a great many 
fables have grown up about their histories, and because some 



•16 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

of the saints in the calendar were noted for what we cannot 
call virtues at all, we are apt to confuse them altogether, and 
think the very word " saint " means some useless unpractical 
bigot. For the most part, however, Ave have quite forgotten 
them, or only know their names as belonging to old churches 
and towns. 

But when we read different histories of these times, we 
find there have been wonderful Christian heroes, leading- 
glorious lives, dying glorious deaths ; teaching, baptizing, 
mediating, feeding the starving, clothing the naked. One 
such man was in Britain while the wars with the 
Germain ^ cts anc * Scots were at their height — Saint Ger- 
main or Gerinanus, a bishop from Gaul. He had 
come over to Britain to argue against some heretics. For, 
unhappily, Christians had already begun quarrelling about 
words and doctrines which are hard to understand. How- 
ever, while in the country he was implored to aid the jjoor 
Britons against their enemies, and he is said to have presided 
over the most singular battle that, perhaps, ever took place 
on English ground. Fuller tells us the story. 

"The pious bishop" (after baptizing multitudes of pagan 
converts), "turning politic engineer, chose a place 
of advantage, being a hollow dale surrounded with 
hills. . . . Here Gerinanus placed his men in ambush, with 
instructions that, at a signal given, they should all shout 
'Hallelujah' three times with all their might, which was 
done accordingly. The pagans were surprised with the 
suddenness and loudness of such a sound, much multiplied 
by the advantage of the echo, whereby their fear brought 
in a false list of their enemies' number ; and, rather trust- 
ing their ears than their eyes, they reckoned their foes by 
the increase of the noise rebounded unto them ; and then, 
allowing two hands for every mouth, how vast was their 
army ! But besides the concavity of the valley improving 
the sound, God sent a hollowness into the hearts of the 
pagans, so that . . . without striking a stroke, they con- 
fusedly ran away. . . . Thus a bloodless victory was gotten 
without sword drawn, consisting of no fight, but a fright and 
a flight." 

If this victory, however, " not by shooting, but by shout- 
ing," was ever really achieved, the Britons were very 
unsuccessful on the whole. They turned and prayed the 
Romans to come back and help them. This is part of the 



THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH. 47 

letter they wrote to ^Etius, who was a Roman general and 
consul. " The groans of the Britons. The barbarians drive 
us to the sea ; the sea throws us back on the barbarians ; 
thus two modes of death await us : we are either slain or 
drowned." We see how much the Britons were changed 
from the old days of Caradoc and Boadicea. It was really 
about time cowards like this got a new master. 

For as the Romans had now too much on their hands 
to come back, the distressed Britons had to look for help 
elsewhere. This time it was rather like the sheep praying 
the wolves to take care of them. The people they turned to 
had indeed been called " sea-wolves." 

At this time they were living as three tribes in Sleswig, 
and near the mouth of the Elbe. They were called 
the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes; and the jw^ 
Angles were the most important and powerful of 
them. Though they were near neighbors, they were quite 
distinct from one another, and continued so long after they 
came into Britain. They hardly deserved a better name at 
that time than sea-wolves or pirates. They were good sail- 
ors, as the English have always been, and good fighters. 
They had long been accustomed to go ravaging and pillaging 
on the coasts of Britain. 

In an evil hour for the Britons, Vortigern, a British king 
of Kent, bethought him of hiring one set of barbarians 
against another, and of persuading these Teutonic pirates to 
fight for him against the Picts and Scots, promising them in 
return, not only money, but lands. " The barbarians," says 
the Briton Gildas, "being thus introduced as soldiers into 
the island, to encounter, as they falsely said, any dangers in 
defence of their hospitable entertainers, obtain an allowance 
of provisions, which, for some time being plentifully 
bestowed, stopped their doggish mouths. Yet they a ^ ei J"i 
complain that their monthly supplies arc not fur- 
nished in sufficient abundance, and they industriously aggra- 
vate each occasion of quarrel, saying that unless more liber- 
ality is shown them they will break the treaty and plunder 
the whole island. In a short time they follow up their 
threats with deeds." 

Their first landing-place was at Ebbsfleet, in the Isle of 
Thanet, which was then much more of an island than it is 
now, and separated from the mainland by a difficult and 
dangerous ford. Vortigern, perhaps, thought that he could 



48 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

pen them up there, and they would come no farther. But 
he little knew what he had done. After the quarrels Gildas 
mentions, and more and more of the strangers coming pour- 
ing in, they soon burst out of the island, under their two 
chief, Hengist and Horsa. The names of both these chiefs 
meant horse {hengst is a German word for horse now), and 
the standard of Kent is a horse to this day. 

They crossed the ford which bounded the Isle of Thanet 
on the west, and marched towards London, which was a rich 
town even in the old Roman days, noted as it is now for its 

449 commerce. The first great battle with the Britons 
The first was fought on the way, at Aylesford in Kent, and 

battle. t | ie English conquered, though one of their chiefs, 
Horsa, was slain. After this victory there was a frightful 
massacre. These "wolves," our ancestors, were still hea- 
thens, and very cruel and merciless. The other Teutons 
who invaded the Roman empire had partly learned Chris- 
tianity, and with it had become more pitiful, so that they 
did not utterly exterminate the conquered. But it was a 
long time before those in Britain learned Christianity. Many 
of the Britons fled from their homes and took refuge in 
caves ; the same caves where the old palaeolithic men had 
fought with hyaenas and bears long ago. In those caves, 
where, deep down, we And rough flint implements and 
bones, there are found nearer to the top the golden orna- 
ments of the British ladies, their pins and combs, and beau- 
tiful enamelled brooches, and their money with Roman 
inscriptions. 

The first of the kingdoms which the Teuton invaders 
founded was that of the Jutes in Kent. Afterwards the 
Saxons also began to settle themselves in the southern 
counties, in Hampshire, Dorsetshire, etc., under their king, 
Cerdic. 

Cerdic was the forefather, either directly or indirectly, of 
all the English kings and queens, even down to 

Cerdic Q ueen Victoria, and he was called the King of Wes- 
sex, or the West Saxons. 

Although Gildas speaks so slightingly of the courage of 

the Britons, still they held out in different parts for a long 

time, and sometimes beat their enemies back. It 

Arthur. wag most \[\ ie \j during the founding of the kingdom 

of Wessex that King Arthur lived and fought (if he ever 

lived at all), though it is thought by some that his kingdom 



THE COMING OF THE ENGLISH. 49 

was on the border-land between England and Scotland.* He 
was a British king, and we all know from Tennyson's Idylls 
that he was continually fighting against heathenism and law- 
lessness. Those heathen were the Angles and Saxons. 

But the efforts of Arthur and the Britons would not avail. 
The sturdy English pushed on, massacring many of the 
Britons, enslaving . some, and driving others farther and 
farther west. The Teutons called all people whose language 
they did not understand Welsh, f Those who live near 
Italy still call the Italians Welsh, and their country Welsh- 
land. Those who came to Britain called the Celts or 
Britons Welsh, and so we call some of them to this very 
day. $ But. it must he remembered, that not only those we 
now call Welsh, hut the Irish, the Highland Scotch, and the 
dwellers in the Isle of Man are descended from the old Celts, 
and speak dialects of their old language. So do many of 
the people who live in Brittany in France. So did, till 
about 100 years ago, the people in Cornwall, which was 
called West Wales. A very snort time since a monument 
was erected in memory of the old lady who last spoke the 
Cornish tongue. • 

It is a curious thing that the British cattle seem to have 
undergone the same fate as their masters. The Britons had 
a breed of small and short-horned cattle, which still survive 
in Wales and Scotland, and until lately were also to be met 
with in Cornwall and Cumberland. All the English breeds 
are derived from those the English brought with them, some 
of which still live wild in Chillingham Park. This breed 
was formerly called the Urns. 

Whilst the rest of the country seemed to be given up to 
heathenism, in Wales, in Ireland, and in Cornwall the Chris- 
tian religion continued to flourish, ami learning was 

kept up. It is said that there were U<!0 philoso-,,,. (kjtie 

, l . l ~| , i • i ■ mi i Christianity, 

phers in Caer-leon, which is now a village, but was 

a thriving city then; and there were some notable saints 

among them. Many of the villages and towns in Cornwall 



* The names of persons and places in the Arthurian legends make it 
certain that the king was ruler in Cornwall or South Wales. An old 
ballad says he was buried at Glastonbury, A.D. 542. 

t It is more nearly correct to say that they called Komanized people 
Welsh. 

t The Welsh called themselves Cyniri. 



50 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

are named after ancient saints, whose history is, perhaps, 
very interesting, but of whom we know scarcely anything. 
Fuller studied the life of St. David, the patron saint of 
Wales, and seems to have found it very attractive reading; 
but he says, " I am sensible that I have spent, to my shame, 
so much precious time in reading the legend of his life, that 
I will not wilfully double my guiltiness in writing the same, 
and tempt the reader to offend in like nature." 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH. 

The introduction of Christianity.. Gregory the Great. State of Christianity in 
the sixth century. Civilizing influence of the Christian teachers. Monas- 
teries. Bede. 

We have now heard of the founding of two kingdoms, 
Kent and Wessex, by the Jutes and the Saxons. After- 
wards there came in more Saxons, who founded other king- 
doms : the East Saxons, Middle Saxons, and South Saxons, 
who gave the familiar names to Essex, Middlesex, and 
Sussex. (Kent is the old British name.) And then came 
also the Angles, who founded the kingdoms of Northumber- 
land (which was the name given to all the land north of the 
river Humber), East Anglia, which was divided between 
the North-folk and the South-folk, and Mercia, which is in 
the middle of England. 

By looking on the map we see that the Angles, who had 
been the most important of the three tribes before they came 
to Britain, now got possession of the largest share of the 
new country, and, by degrees, the whole of the land inhab- 
ited by the Teuton invaders came to be called Angle-land or 
England. The Welsh, however, generally called the Teu- 
tons, Saxons, because it was the Saxons in Wessex who 
made the greatest impression on them ; and the Welsh and 
the Highlanders call the English Saxons to this day. In 
many histories of England we find all these invaders called 
Sax«»ns; but it seems better, when we are speaking of them 
all under one name, to call them by the same which they 
bear still, the English. As there were but very few of the 
Jutes in comparison with the other two tribes, and their 
name soon died out, we may also very properly call them 
Anglo-Saxons. 

The seven principal kingdoms which the invaders founded 
were Kent, Wessex, Northumberland, Mercia, Sussex, 

51 



52 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Essex, and East Anglia. These are generally called the 

" Heptarchy," which is a Greek word, meaning " the 

The Hep- ru i e f seven." But there never could be said to be 

arc y ' a real Heptarchy consisting of seven settled king- 
doms. They were always, when not fighting the Welsh, fight- 
ing each other, and sometimes there would be more, sometimes 
fewer, kings. Northumberland was often divided into two 
parts, Bernicia and Deira, each of which had its own king. 
Still, on the whole, there may be said to have been those 
seven kingdoms ; and the rest of the country, Wales, Corn- 
wall, and Strathclyde, which was the name given to Cumber- 
land, Westmoreland, and part of Scotland, still belonged to 
the Britons. Northumberland reached as far north as the 
river Forth, and the Lowland Scotch are, in reality, Angles 
or English. 

During this time the country must have been in a fearful 
state, with these heathen warriors marauding and fighting, 
and taking possession of the land ; though when they settled 
down they seem to have lived quietly in their village com- 
munities, as at home. The Britons would not or could not 
teach them Christianity; most likely they were too proud to 
learn of their conquered slaves. Fuller says, "This set the 
conversion of Germany so backward, because, out of defiance 
to the Romans, they hugged their own barbarism, made 
lovely with liberty ; blotting out all civility from themselves, 
as jealous that it would usher in subjection." 

So, though the Welsh and Irish continued to improve in 
learning and religion, this had no effect on the English. At 
last, however, they too learned Christianity, and they learned 
it from Romans. The history of the conversion of the Eng- 
lish is told us most beautifully by an Englishman who lived 
not very long after it took place, Bede, or the Venerable 
Bede, as he is called. It is from him that we learn the well- 
known story how Pope Gregory the Great went into the 
market-place at Rome, where among other merchandise he 
saw " some boys set to sale, their bodies white, their counte- 
nances beautiful, their hair very fine ; " how when he heard 
of what nation they were, he said, With those fair faces, 
they should be not Angles, but Angels; and how he never 
rested till missionaries were sent to England to withdraw 
those people from the wrath of God, and teach them to sing 
His praise. 

It was in the year 597 that the Roman missionaries, with 



THE CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH. 53 

Augustine their chief, came to England ; landing, as the first 
English settlers had done, in the Isle of Thanet. 
Ethelbert, the king of Kent, "ordered them to xh/chris- 
stay in that island, where they had landed, and tian mission- 
that they should be furnished with all necessaries, aries " 
till he should consider what to do with them." He was not 
ill-disposed to Christianity, for he himself had married a 
Christian princess from France, and, considering the high 
respect all his race bore to their wives, Queen Bertha's opin- 
ions would doubtless have great weight with him. 

Still he was afraid to let the missionaries come into his 
house, "lest, according to an ancient superstition, if they 
practised any magical arts, they might impose upon him, 
and get the better of him." So he chose to receive them 
sitting in the open air. Augustine and his companions came 
before him, "furnished with Divine, not with magic, virtue, 
bearing a silver cross for their banner, and the image of 
our Lord and Saviour painted on a board ; and, singing the 
Litany, they offered up their prayers to the Lord for the 
eternal salvation both of themselves and of those to whom 
they were come." 

After the conference the king permitted them to live in 
Canterbury, and to preach to any who chose to listen to 
them. Here they lived and labored to such good 
purpose that "several believed and were baptized, ^Kent. " 
admiring the simplicity of their innocent life, and 
the sweetness of their heavenly doctrine." Before long the 
king himself was converted, and after that many more of 
the people followed his example. "Their conversion the 
king so far encouraged, as that he compelled none to em- 
brace Christianity, but only showed more affection to the 
believers, as to his fellow-citizens in the heavenly kingdom. 
For he had learned from his instructors and leaders to salva- 
tion that the service of Christ ought to be voluntary, not by 
compulsion." 

Let us now pause to consider the state of Christianity at 
the time when these Roman missionaries brought it to Eng- 
land. 

Any one who reads the Gospels must be struck with the 
simplicity of Christ's teaching; how little dogmatism there 
is in it, how little formality, how little mystery ; how much 
practice, how much kindliness and gentleness, how much 
faith and trust in God as a father. In the five or six hun- 



54 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

dred years which had passed since the death of Christ, the 
Christian religion had, in some respects, changed 

State of verv muc h from what Christ had taught, and was 
on its way to change more. 

God seemed removed immeasurably farther off. Even 
Christ seemed more awful and less sympathizing. Men 
thought much of angels; still more of saints; above all, of 
the Virgin Mary. She became the ideal of tenderness and 
purity. It cannot be said that she took the place of the old 
heathen goddesses, for she was far higher, purer, and more 
gentle than they; but as some of them had appeared to be 
wise, smiling, and beneficent, and had been dearly loved 
and honored, all that love, and much more, was now lavished 
on the Mother of Christ. 

Besides good supernatural beings, they believed very 
vividly also in evil ones, and in the power and number of 
the devils. They thought they were ever on the watch to 
tempt and to beguile. 

They had a most wonderful awe and reverence for 
"relics;" that is, for things which were believed to have 
belonged to Christ or the saints. 

The whole service had become a formal ceremony. The 
priests and bishops were looked on as most sacred, and far 
removed from common mortals. The sacrament was far 
more of a mystery than it had been of old. Images and 
pictures were used as helps to devotion, though they were 
not worshipped. We saw that Augustine and his compan- 
ions had a cross and a picture of Christ. 

The greatest change of all, perhaps, was the growth of 
what is called asceticism ; that is, a hatred of the body, of 
all common, human life, of natural affection, of marriage. 
The height of virtue, in the opinion of many, was to with- 
draw from the world, from all useful occupations, from all 
love and happiness, and to give themselves up to prayer, 
fasting, and watching. 

Though we may think that Christianity had in some 
things changed for the worse, let us remember with thank- 
fulness how pure, how merciful, how beautiful, it was still, 
and never cease to love the name of Gregory and Augustine, 
who taught it to our fathers. 

After about twenty years Christianity reached Northum- 
berland. The principal missionary who went there was a 
certain Bishop Paulinus, who was described by one of those 



THE CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH. 55 

whom he baptized as "a man tall of stature, a little stoop- 
ing, his hair black, his visage meagre, his nose slender and 
aquiline, his aspect both venerable and majestic." 

The good Gregory was now dead, but his successor, Pope 
Boniface, took a great interest in the affairs of England, and 
sent long letters of good advice to the King of Northumber- 
land and his wife. With his letters he sent presents: to 
the king a shirt, a robe, and a golden ornament ; to the 
queen a silver looking-glass and a gilt ivory comb ; and to 
both the blessing of St. Peter. 

The king of Northumberland was at this time a very 
powerful and influential man named Edwin.* 
He, too, had a Christian wife, for he had married conversion 
the daughter of King Ethelbert of Kent. He of Northum- 
did not embrace the new religion hastily, but, 
"being a man of extraordinary sagacity, he sate alone by 
himself a long time, silent as to his tongue, but deliberating 
in his heart how he should proceed, and which religion he 
should adhere to." He afterwards summoned a council of 
his " wise men " to consider the matter still farther. 

Our forefathers were not, indeed, men to change their 
religion easily and lightly. Though they were still ignorant 
and rough, they were thoughtful men. They did not care 
only for food and drink, and for such things as they could 
see and handle ; they reflected also on invisible things : on 
life, on the soul of man, on his feelings, and his nature. 
Their language is noted among all its brothers of the Teu- 
tonic speech for possessing more words of that sort than any 
of them, — words about mind and thought, emotions and 
affections. 

The end of their deliberations was that Edwin and all his 
nobles embraced Christianity, and were baptized at York, a 
great number of the common people joining them, whilst 
the chief of the heathen priests himself profaned the altars 
and destroyed the idols. 

Edwin was now the strongest of all the kings in Eng- 
land ; his kingdom extended as far north as the Forth, and 
the capital of Scotland, Edinburgh, is named after him. It 
was in his days called Edwin's burgh. He also made him- 
self in a certain sense master and head of the whole coun- 



*The whole story of Edwin's conversion will be found in "Free- 
man's Old English History," pp. 51, etc. 



56 GUEST"s ENGLISH HISTORY. 

try. He governed as a Christian king- ought. "It is 
reported," says Bede, " that there was then such perfect 
peace in Britain, wheresoever the dominion of King Edwin 
extended, that, as is now proverbially said, a woman with 
her new-born babe might walk throughout the island, from 
sea to sea, without receiving any harm." 

But after Edwin's death the Northumbrians fell back 

into heathenism, and had to be converted over again. This 

time the missionaries did not come from Rome, but from 

Ireland and Scotland. The Irish, who had been 

T Church h convei 'ted by St. Patrick, were very vigorous and 

fervent Christians. They sent zealous and holy 

men to preach the gospel in Scotland, Friesland, Burgundy, 

Switzerland, even in Italy. One of them, Columba, settled 

on the island of Iona, west of Scotland, and founded a 

monastery there, from whence came the missionaries to 

Northumberland. 

Though the Irish are now devoted to the Pope, they were 
not so then; they had some minor differences of opinion; 
as, for instance, which was the right season for keeping- 
Easter, and how the priests' hair should be cut; and it was 
disputed for some time whether the Church of Northumber- 
land should own allegiance to Rome or Ireland. In the end 
it was decided that it should adhere to Rome, as the other 
English churches did. 

In about one hundred years all the land became Christian. 
The last kingdom to be converted (though lying so near to 
Kent, which was the first) was Sussex. The Chris- 
Conversion ti an missionaries, beside religion, taught the people 
of Sussex. . , ' , => , , ' r I 

many uselul arts, — they taught the Sussex men to 

fish! "The bishop," writes Bede, "when he came into the 
province, and found so great misery from famine, taught 
them to get their food by fishing, for their sea and river 
abounded in fish, but the people had no skill to take them, 
except eels alone." 

This same bishop, Wilfrid, received from the king a grant 
of land with " all the goods that were therein." Among these 
goods were two hundred and fifty slaves. All these he at 
once set at liberty and baptized. 

Other arts too sprang up under the shadow of Christianity. 
People began to build stone churches with pillars and aisles, 
and even with glass Avindows. As the English did not yet 
know how to make glass, they brought men from France to 



THE CONVERSION OF THE ENGLISH. 57 

do tills part of the work, and by degrees they learned the 
art themselves, though glass was a very rare luxury for 
many centuries after this. With Christianity too 
came learning. The Roman missionaries brought uca lon- 
Latin with them. Some time afterwards the Pope also sent 
Greek missionaries, who brought their own language. These 
last, Theodore and Adrian, were both, Bede tells us, " well 
read both in sacred and secular literature ; they gathered a 
crowd of disciples, and there daily flowed from them rivers 
of knowledge towards the hearts of their hearers." They 
not only taught them out of the Bible, but also gave them 
lessons in astronomy, arithmetic, Greek, and Latin. "Nor 
were there ever happier times since the English came into 
Britain. . . . The minds of all men were bent upon the joys 
of the heavenly kingdom of which they had just heard, and 
all who desired to be instructed in sacred reading had mas- 
ters at hand to teach them." 

"In a single century," says Stubbs, "England became 
known to Christendom as a fountain of light, as a land of 
learned men, devout and unwearied missions, of strong, rich, 
and pious kings. 1 ' 

It was Archbishop Theodore who divided the country into 
bishoprics and archbishoprics, which have been very little 
changed since his day. 

Now, too, monasteries began to rise all over the land. As 
they Avere of immense importance for many centuries, it is 
necessary we should know something about them ; 
and we will at this time mention the good which Monastenes - 
they did, leaving the evil until the period when they had 
begun to degenerate. The life and death of the historian 
Bede, from whom so much has been already quoted, will 
show us the fairest side of monastic life. In the monasteries 
a great deal of useful work was done; it was not all fasting 
and meditation. "When we consider the times, the fighting 
and tumults which still went on, the ignorance and barbar- 
ism, we shall see that in the monasteries there was a refuge 
not only for religion, but for gentleness, learning, and civili- 
zation 

Bede tells us that he was born in the territory of the 
monastery of Jarrow, which was on the coast of Durham, at 
the mouth of the river Wear. He Avas given, at the 
age of seven years, to be educated by the Abbot e * 

Benedict, and, "spending all the remainder of my life in 



58 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

that monastery, I wholly applied myself to the study of the 
Scriptures; and amidst the observation of regular discipline, 
and the daily care of singing in the church, I always took 
delight in learning, teaching, and writing." 

We read this about the occupations of the monastery: 
"The founder, like the rest of the brothers, delighted, to 
exercise himself in winnowing the corn and threshing it, in 
giving milk to the lambs and calves, in the bake-house, in the 
garden, in the kitchen. 1 ' These were all healthy, peaceful, 
and useful employments. But besides helping to attend to 
all this, Bede studied religion and all the learning of the 
times. lie knew Latin and Greek, and had read some at 
least of the old poets and philosophers whom scholars love 
to read now. He knew as much as could be known at that 
time of astronomy, physical science, arithmetic, grammar, 
and medicine. He was also very fond of music, singing, and 
poetry. He taught all the other monks, and many strangers, 
who came from all parts to learn of him, and he wrote 
forty-five books. Most of these were sermons or explana- 
tions of the Bible ; but others were hymns and poems, or 
treatises on scientific subjects. One was about spelling. 
But the one we prize most is that from which so much has 
been quoted, Ins " Church History." He was the first English 
historian. This book was written in Latin, but Bede loved 
his native tongue, and the last work he did was to translate 
the Gospel of St. John into English. Is not this a picture 
of a noble and a happy life? Now read the story of his 
beautiful death, written by one of his pupils who was with 
him to the end. He tells us that after the beginning of his 
last illness "he led his life cheerful and rejoicing, giving 
thanks to Almighty God every day and night, nay, every 
hour, till the day of our Lord's ascension." He was labor- 
ing hard to finish his translation of St. John, he dictating, 
while one of his pupils wrote. On "the Tuesday before 
the ascension of our Lord ... he passed all that day pleas- 
antly, and dictated now and then, saying, 'Go on quickly; I 
know not how long I shall hold out, and whether my Master 
will soon take me away.' " On the Wednesday "he ordered 
that we should speedily write what he had begun, and, this 
done, we walked till the third hour with the relics of saints, 
according to the custom of that day. There was one of us 
with him, who said to him, 'Most dear master, there is still 
one chapter wanting; do you think it troublesome to be 



THE CONVERSION OE THE ENGLISH. 59 

asked any more questions?' He answered, 'It is no trouble. 
Take your pen, make ready, and write fast.' . . . Having 
said much more, he passed the day joyfully till the evening, 
and the above-mentioned boy said, 'Dear master, there is yet 
one sentence not written.' • He answered, ' Write quickly.' 
Soon after the boy said, ' The sentence is now written.' He 
replied, 'Well, you have said the truth. It is ended.' Then 
he said, ' Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, 
and to the Holy Ghost.' When he had named the 735- 
Holy Ghost he breathed his last, and so departed to the 
heavenly kingdom." 

Some of the monasteries of this time seem to have been 
presided over by ladies. There was one very famous one, 
of which the ruins are still to be seen at Whitby in 
Yorkshire, which was ruled by the Abbess Hilda. KMa " 
She belonged to the royal family, and must have understood 
the art of governing very well, for she trained up many 
clergymen, and no less than five bishops. In her abbey dwelt 
Caedmon, the first English poet, who made so many and such 
beautiful verses on the Bible histories, that he was believed 
to have "learned the art of poetry, not from men, but from 
God." 

Thus we see how the monasteries were like islands of 
harmony and culture in the midst of wild oceans of discord 
and strife. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE UNITING OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 

The kingdoms of the English. The " Bretwalda." Eghert. The Danes. 

St. Edmund. 

England was now bearinninGT to have far more intercourse 
with the rest of Europe than she had had for a long time. 
In the fervor of their new conversion, the English began 
to send missionaries to convert their heathen kinsfolk on 
the Continent; and by means of them, their zeal and their 
learning, England became well known and famous; for at 
that time the country was more learned and more religious 
than many of its neighbors. 

It is now time to look at the state of the Continent, and 

see how the great empire of the Romans had fared during 

The Romans tne centul 'i es which had passed since they left 

and the Teu- Britain. It will be remembered that the Teu- 

s< tonic or German races were falling upon it on 

all sides, settling themselves in Italy, Gaul, Spain, Africa, 

and Britain. By the beginning of the ninth century the 

Teutons had lost some of these conquests. They had lost 

forever their African possessions, and had given way to 

the Arabs or Saracens. The Saracens had also established 

themselves in Spain and in a part of France. 

But, on the other hand, the Teutons were growing- 
stronger and stronger in other parts. There was a great 
tribe or people of Teutonic race called the Franks, who 
were now the chief people in Germany and Gaul. Their 
name means " free men." In English the word " frank " 
still means open, unreserved, free-handed, free-hearted. As 
the Angles had changed the name of Britain into England, 
so the Franks changed that of Gaul into France. They also 
gave their name to Franconia in Germany. The difference 
between the settlement of the Franks in France and that of 
the English in England, is that the English destroyed the 

60 



THE UNITING OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 61 

old inhabitants, and brought in their own language and 
habits. The Franks did not destroy the people of Gaul, but 
settled in among them, and by degrees learned their language, 
which the Gauls before this had learned from the Romans. 
The French is one of those languages which are called 
Romance, as being very much like the Roman or Latin 
speech. But at the time of which we are now writing, the 
Franks still talked their own native German. 

How completely the Germans had conquered the Romans 
was shown by the fact that the King of the Franks was made 
Emperor of Rome! This German emperor was 800 
called Charles the Great, which was afterwards The emperor 
translated into French as "Charlemagne." He Charles - 
really deserved the name of "great," and Ave have some- 
thing to do with him in English history; for he began to 
take an interest in English affairs, and it was under him 
that the first king of all the English was trained up. It 
seems that he began to notice the English through the mis- 
sionaries whom they sent among the Franks. One of his 
dearest friends was an Englishman from York, named 
Alcuin, who had, perhaps, been one of Bede's own pupils. 
Alcuin had a great love for Charles, calling him " David " 
as a sign of affection, and went to live in France, that he 
might help him in many ways, especially in teaching the 
people. It shows how much the Franks were behind the 
English in learning, that he had to send to York to get 
books for his school. 

Hitherto the Germans on the Continent, as well as the 
Angles, Jutes, and Saxons in England, had been very much 
broken up into small states or tribes, which was a great hin- 
drance to their progress and strength. Charles conquered 
some of these scattered tribes, and made alliances with 
others, so as to join them all into one, under his own govern- 
ment. 

In England the various kings and kingdoms had been 
constantly fighting ; now one being master, and now an- 
other. Though Ave will not compare the battles of our 
ancestors to those of "kites and croAvs," as Milton did, and 
though all this conflict Avas really the rough-heAving of the 
English nation, yet Ave need not linger over it, or burden 
our memories with the details. The time Avas coming when 
all the smaller kingdoms would be gathered under one head, 
and would thus become far more great and powerful, even 



62 G1'EST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

then; still more, would have the possibility of growth and 
future greatness. It had often been the case that one of the 
kings would gain a certain authority over some or all of 
the others, as Edwin of Northumberland had done. When 
that was the case he was called "Bretwalda." It is not 
quite certain what that word meant, though some people 
believe that it meant " Wielder of Britain." 

At the time at which we have now arrived, Northumber- 
land, which had been so strong, learned, and civilized, had 
sunk down again, and was weak and distracted. The most 
powerful kingdom was Mercia, and Offa, the Mercian king, 
began to lord it over the others. He set one of his sons-in-law 
to be king of Northumberland, and another to be king of 
Wessex. In each of those countries another man claimed 
the throne ; both of these were obliged to fly the country, and 
both took refuge with Charlemagne. 

One of these, the claimant of the throne of Wessex, was 

Egbert, who afterwards got that and much more. It has 

been mentioned that in the old heathen times the 

Egber . fc m gg were all supposed to be descended from the 
god Woden. By this time, as they had been Christians so 
long, 'they had altered their opinion about Woden. They 
now thought of him as a man, but still believed him to be 
the founder of the royal family, and one of his descendants 
says of him, " He was the king of many nations, whom some 
of the pagans still worship as a god." Now Egbert, besides 
being a very clever man, was the only living descendant of 
Woden; therefore Bertric, Offa's son-in-law, was very 
jealous of him. 

" Sweet are the uses of adversity." Had Egbert not been 
banished from his country, or had he been made king easily 
and at once, he would, perhaps, never have been 
Kio training. ^ e king he was. While living under the pro- 
tection of Charlemagne he learned a great deal. He watched 
him uniting the scattered German tribes into one strong king- 
dom, and when he came home he followed the example. 

Bertric, the supplanting King of Wessex, came to a mel- 
ancholy end. His wife, the daughter of Offa, was a very 
wicked woman, jealous of every one whom her husband 
loved. If she could not get rid of them openly she would 
give them poison; and at last, when she was intending to 
poison a young friend and favorite of the king, by some 
mistake Bertric also partook of the cup, and so both per- 



THE UNITING OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 63 

ished together. After this, the queen, detested by every 
one, was obliged to leave the country, and she, too, went to 
the court of Charlemagne. It seems that he could not have 
known much of her character or adventures, for he made 
her the abbess of a large convent of nuns, where, as might 
have been expected, she behaved very differently from the 
wise Abbess Hilda. At last her conduct became so dis- 
graceful that she had to be expelled from her convent, and 
ended her wicked life very miserably, begging her bread in 
the streets of Pa via, a city in Italy. 

Directly after Bertric's death Egbert returned to Wessex, 
and was at once received by the people as their king. He had 
learned patience in liis exile. He spent twenty- 800 
five years in strengthening his own kingdom of Egbert king 
Wessex, and extending it towards the west by of Wessex - 
fighting and subduing the Britons in Devonshire, Cornwall, 
and Wales. Off a had also done a great deal towards conquer- 
ing the Welsh, and in these wars we can see how much the 
Christian religion had softened and improved the character 
of the conquerors. The English ceased to massacre and ex- 
terminate the Britons, as they did at first ; instead of killing 
or driving them away, they allowed them to dwell undisturbed 
in their own lands, as long as they would obey the laws. 

Offa had now been dead for some time, but his successor 
in the kingdom of Mercia, seeing Egbert's growing power, 
resolved to make another fight for the mastery, and invaded 
Wessex. Egbert thoroughly defeated him in one battle, and 
after his death Egbert was chosen King of Mercia also. 
Seeing how powerful he had now become, the smaller king- 
doms submitted to him without much difficulty. There only 
remained Northumberland. Egbert marched against that 
with a great army, but it submitted without a fight. 

Thus Egbert became king of all the English. But we are 
not to think he was king of England as a unit, as it is under 
Victoria. The other kingdoms continued more or 
less distinct, with their own kings or princes ; but Egbert over- 
these kings owed a sort of obedience to Egbert ; lord of Eng- 
they paid him tribute, and if he summoned them an ' 
to help him in battle they were bound to come. England 
never fell to pieces again, as the Germany of Charlemagne 
did; it continued, henceforth, to be one; but it was not till 
long afterwards that the separate kingdoms were thoroughly 
and entirely united. 



64 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

It was a very fortunate thing for England that it was a 
king of Wessex who gained the supremacy rather than 
a king of Mercia or Northumberland; for had the capital of 
the country been at York, or in some quite inland place, 
instead of at London or Winchester, it would have isolated 
the people far more from the rest of Europe. 

One thing, which no doubt made it easier for Egbert to 
unite all the country under himself, was trouble from with- 
out. Hitherto, since the English tribes had first come to 
Britain, they had been left pretty much to themselves, 
except by the missionaries. But now, as has been said, 
foreigner^ began again to take an interest in England and 
English affairs. Some did good, as Charlemagne, but others 
were terrible scourges. 

These last were the Danes, as they are called. For the 
next two or three hundred years English history is full of 
them. It almost seems like going back 400 years, 
e anss. an( j lv;1( jj n o- history over again. Then we saw a 
Christian population slaughtered or driven away by heathen 
and barbarous invaders from over the sea. Xow the same 
is repeated. These "Danes "did not all come from Den- 
mark, though, as most of them did so, they were all called 
by that name. Many of them came from Norway and 
Friesland. It was from South Denmark and Friesland, as 
we know, that the first Angles, Jutes, and Saxons had come ; 
so these were, in fact, their near relations. The Norwegians 
were also a branch of the Teutons; they all spoke nearly 
the same language as the English ; they had also the same 
habits and the same religion which the English had formerly 
had; they still worshipped Woden and Thor. They were 
quite as worthy of the name of sea-wolves as the Angles had 
been. Here is an account of the first visit the Danes paid 
to England, which gives a pleasant idea of them. ''Whilst 
the pious King Bertiic " (this was Offa's son-in-law) " was 
reigning over the western parts of the English, and the inno- 
cent people spread through their plains were enjoying 
themselves in tranquillity, and yoking their oxen to the 
plough, suddenly there arrived on the coast a fleet of Danes, 
not large, but of three ships only; this was their first arrival. 
When this became known, the king's officer, who was 
already stopping in the town of Dorchester, leaped on his 
horse and galloped forwards with a few men to the port, 
thinking that they were merchants rather than enemies, and, 



THE UNITING OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 65 

commanding them in an authoritative tone, ordered them to 
go to the royal city ; but he was slain on the spot by them, 
and all who were with him." 

After this first visit they came again and again, and there 
were once more massacres, ravages, burning villages, burning 
churches, just as there had been so long before. Only the 
English now made a better defence than the poor Britons 
had done, and were not exterminated nor driven off into 
the wild western regions. On the other hand they never 
could drive the Danes quite away. Numbers of them set- 
tled down in the land, and took root there ; but as they 
spoke nearly the same language, and came of the same stock, 
they soon mixed with the English and became one with 
them. But in this we are anticipating; there was still hard 
fighting for many years to come. 

After Egbert's death his son Ethelwulf became king. He 

was, as his father had been, the principal king or over-lord 

of England, with under-kings in different parts. 

ITe had not an easy time of it. He was beset on Ethelwulf 
..... „,, t-,* 7 . „. , and his sons, 

both sides. I he Danes came up the lh.am.es; they 

spent a whole winter in the Isle of Sheppey; they brought a 

great army and three hundred and fifty 'ships to the mouth of 

the Thames, sacked the cities of Canterbury and London, and 

put to flight an army which came from Mercia to oppose them. 

On the western side it was almost worse. The Danes made 

friends with the Britons, who were living in Devonshire, and 

there was a great deal of fighting and misery there also. At 

last, however, the Danes got the worst of it, for 

the time, and went away for eight years, during 

which time Ethelwulf died in peace, leaving four sons, who 

were all kings in turn. To show, however, what misgivings 

he had as to the future, we give a short extract from the 

account of his will. " For the benefit of his soul, which he 

studied to promote in all things from the first flower of his 

youth, he directed through all his hereditary dominions that 

one poor man in ten, either native or foreigner, should be 

supplied with meat, drink, and clothing by his successors 

until the Day of Judgment ; supposing, hoivever, that the 

country should still be inhabited by men and cattle, and 

should not become deserted.'''' 

The three elder of his sons were Ethelbald, Ethelbert, 

and Ethel red. Many of the names of our ancestors had 

interesting meanings. Egbert means "Bright-eye." Ethel 



66 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

means " Noble," and was a very favorite beginning for a 
name. 

Ethelwulf was "The noble wolf." 

Ethelbald " " Noble and bold." 

Ethelbekt " "Noble and bright." 

Ethelked " "Noble in counsel." 

The noblest of all, however, was not named Ethel, but 
Alfred or Alfred, winch means an elf or fairy in counsel.. 
"Eed " meant "counsel " or wisdom ; and there came another 
Ethelred in due time, who did not at all deserve so grand a 
name. 

The three Ethels had very short and troubled reigns. 
The Danes came back and the fights began again. The 
Danes grew stronger and stronger. They seized on much 
of the eastern part of England, and settled down 
St. Edmund. thcre rphere was at this time an under-king in 
East Anglia named Edmund. One of the old writers of 
this period, Asser, of whom we shall soon hear more, tells 
us of him : " In the year 856, Humbert, Bishop of the East 
Angles, anointed with oil and consecrated as king the glori- 
ous Edmund, with much rejoicing and great honor, in the 
royal town called Burva on a Christmas Day." How he 
came to be so glorious and so beloved he docs not tell us 
(he was only fifteen then, but the glory and the love came 
afterwards) ; Ave will, however, quote what Carlyle says 
about him. Asking in what way Edmund rose to such favor 
and won such affection, he answers himself, "Really, except 
it were by doing justly and loving mercy to an unprece- 
dented extent, one does not know. The man, it would 
seem, had walked, as they say, humbly with God, — humbly 
and valiantly with God, — struggling to make the earth 
heavenly as he could ; instead of walking sumptuously and 
pridefully with mammon, leaving the earth to grow hellish 
as it liked." 

When the Danes invaded East Anglia, Edmund was 
taken prisoner (so the story goes) and led before the heathen 
chiefs. They offered him his life and liberty if he would 
give up Christianity and reign under them. He refused. 
"Cannot we kill you?" cried they. " Cannot I die?" an- 
swered he. So they bound him to a tree and shot him to 
death with arrows. 

"Edmund was seen and felt by all men to have done 



THE UNITING OF THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 67 

verily a man's part in tins life's pilgrimage of his, and bene- 
dictions and outflowing love and admiration from the uni- 
versal heart were his meed. Well done ! well done ! cried 
the hearts of all men. They raised his slain and martyred 
body, washed its wounds with fast-flowing universal tears — 
tears of endless pity, and yet of a sacred joy and triumph. 
... In this manner did the men of the eastern counties 
take up the slain body of their Edmund, where it lay cast 
forth in the village of Hoxne, seek out the severed head, 
and reverently re-unite the same. They embalmed him 
with myrrh and sweet sjnces, with love, pity, and all high 
and awful thoughts." 

Afterwards this Edmund, who seems to have been about 
thirty years old when he died, was "canonized" or pro- 
claimed a saint, and a great abbey called St. Edmund's Bury, 
or Bury St. Edmund's, was built over his grave, where the 
ruins of it may be seen to this day in that town of Suffolk. 

Thus the Danes got possession of East Anglia. They 
burned down the wealthy abbeys of Peterborough, Ely, and 
Croyland, and killed or drove away the monks. After a 
time, however, those abbeys rose again, and two of the finest 
English cathedrals are at Peterborough and Ely. 



CHAPTER IX. 

ALFRED. 

King Alfred. His education. His war with the Danes. The treaty of Wedrnore. 
The time of peace. Alfred's work in law, justice, religion, and education. 
His books. 

In the last chapter we saw England in a very pitiable 
condition, ravaged and plundered by the Danish heathen. 
We read of Ethehvulfs four sons, who were all kings in 
turn. The youngest and the greatest of them was 
Alfred. Alfred, who has left such a beloved and glorious 
name behind him, and who was, perhaps, the best and wisest 
king England ever had. We must pass hastily over his 
three elder brothers, that we may have more time for 
Alfred, "England's darling," as the people loved to call 
him, even centuries after his death. 

Our knowledge of Alfred's life is mainly derived from 

four sources. The first and principal authority is a Welsh 

clergyman, Asser, whose work has been already quoted ; it 

was in it that Ethehvulfs will was described. 

Authorities. It hag been gtated al ready that the Welsh (or 

Britons) preserved a love of learning even after the English 
had persecuted and driven them into the west ; so that some 
of our old histories, and many old poems, were written by 
them. Asser, who seems to have been a good and clever 
man, was a devoted friend of Alfred, and wrote his life, 
which is very interesting, because he tells us many little 
things that he heard and saw himself, and makes us feel as 
if we knew and loved his king and friend as much as he did. 
The book has not been all preserved, and of what we have, 
parts seem to have been added by some other writer at a 
later time; but a great deal of it is authentic, and very 
pithy and quaint, as well as hearty. 

Besides Asser, we have a " Chronicle " by a man who was 
descended from the royal family, and who wrote a short 
history of England for the instruction of a cousin Matilda 

68 



« 

ALFRED. 69 

of his in Germany. He says Ethelred, the third son of 

Ethelwulf, was his grandfather's grandfather, and that 
Alfred was grandfather to Matilda's grandfather. He 
seems to have had a misgiving that she would find his book 
rather dry (which it must be confessed it really is), and 
makes an apology for it, saying, " Although I may seem 
to send you a load of reading, dearest sister of my desire, do 
not judge me harshly, but as my writings were in love to 
you, so may you read them." 

Again, and principally, as far as Alfred's wars are con- 
cerned, we have the first and oldest true history of England, 
written by Englishmen, which is commonly called, " The 
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," and will be referred to again. 

Lastly, we have his own words, which show forth his noble 
character better than any one's words about him can do, and 
of which a few shall be quoted. 

Both Asser and the Anglo-Saxon chronicler give us his 
whole pedigree. Of couise he was descended (as all the 
English kings were supposed to be) from Woden ; and as 
they now look upon Woden as a man, they also tell us who 
his father and grandfather were, and so back and back to 
" Sceaf, who was born in Noah's ark," and thence to Noah 
and Adam as in Genesis, ending with "our Father, that is 
Christ." Thus we see that they did not give up the idea of 
the Divine descent of man. 

It need hardly be said that this pedigree is not at all to be 
trusted. But Asser tells us what is more to the purpose, 
that Alfred had a very good mother, " a religious woman, 
noble both by birth and nature." 

Almost every one has heard the pretty story of the begin- 
ning of Alfred's education. Unfortunately, some learned 
men now say the story is not and cannot be true, 
but, as others give reasons for believing it, we will ucation. 
take it as Asser tells it. He relates that Alfred was more 
comely, more graceful, and more beloved by his parents and 
by all the people than any of his brothers, and that "his 
noble nature implanted in him from his cradle a love of wis- 
dom above all things," and he tells how his mother trained 
him. "On a certain day his mother was showing him and 
his brothers a Saxon (or English) book of poetry, which she 
held in her hand, and said, ' Whichever of you shall the 
soonest learn this volume shall have it for his own.' Stimu- 
lated by these words, or rather by the Divine inspiration, and 



70 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

allured by the beautifully-illuminated letter at the beginning 
of the volume, he spoke before all his brothers, who, though 
his seniors in age, were not so in grace, and answered, 'Will 
you really give that book to one of us, that is to say, to him 
who can first understand and repeat it to you ? ' At this his 
mother smiled with satisfaction, and confirmed what she had 
before said. Upon which the boy took the book out of her 
hand, and went to his master to read it, and in due time 
brought it to his mother and recited it." 

This seems to have been when Alfred was about four years 
old. We are not to suppose the child learned to read, but 
to repeat the poems ; for it appears that he did not learn to 
read till after he was twelve years old. But he had, from 
that time, all through his life a passionate love of learning, 
and persevered in it through troubles and difficulties such as 
Ave can hardly imagine. 

Alfred, while he Avas still a child, was twice at Rome. 

The Pope made much of him, and anointed him future King 

of England. He travelled through France, over 

Visits to the Alps, and through Northern Italy, and so he 
saAv a great deal of the beauty of the world. It 
is to be feared he would not admire the Alps much, for in 
those days, and long alter, people thought of mountains as 
horrible and savage places, only fit for wild beasts or hermits. 
The feeling of admiration for the grandeur of nature is 
comparatively modern. But no doubt he was struck by the 
splendor of Liome, and the other Italian cities, so different 
from the rude and unbeautiful cities of England, as they 
Avere then. Borne was still the capital of the world. Many 
of the fine buildings which are now in ruins, and which Ave 
so often see in photographs, Avere, no doubt, still in good 
preservation. There, too, he saw the most learned, polite, 
and religious men then living. All this would make a great 
impression on the young and clever child, and Ave may be 
sure he never forgot it. 

On his second visit to Rome he stayed there with his 
father a Avhole year. It seems strange that he did not learn 
to read, as there Avas a school at Rome on purpose for the 
English or Anglo-Saxons, to which King Ethelwulf made 
many handsome presents. But in those days it was not 
thought needful for kings, noblemen, or gentlemen to know 
how to read. That Avas left for the priests or clergymen. 
Kings used to make their mark, just as the most utterly 



ALFRED. 71 

ignorant people do now, and as, it is to be supposed, in 
another fifty years no one will do. The young princes and 
nobles were taught hunting, wrestling, and the like ; and they 
were also accustomed to hear songs and poems in their own 
language: — songs about war and heroes, kings and queens, 
the sea and the sea-kings, dwarfs and giants and dragons, 
beautiful ladies and their lovers. Alfred dearly loved these 
old poems and ballads. 

Meanwhile the fighting went on. All through his childhood 
and youth he must have been constantly hearing 

about the " pagans." There is not space to give a J? av ?£ es of 

, . , . o , , l v the Danes, 

history of all these wars, but these are specimens 

from the chronicles of Ethel werd. 

" 865. After four years from the death of 'King Ethelbald, 
the pagans strengthen their position in the Isle of Thanet, 
and promise to be at peace with the men of Kent, who on 
their part prepare money, ignorant of the future. But the 
Danes break their compact, and, sallying out privately by 
night, lay waste all the eastern coast of Kent. . . . 

"868. After one year that army, leaving the eastern parts, 
crossed the river Humber into Northumberland, to the city 
of Evoric (York). . . . After some delay they (the inhabi- 
tants) turned their thoughts to raise an army and repulse 
those who were advancing. They collected together no 
small bodies of troops and reconnoitred the enemy; their 
rage was excited, they joined battle, a miserable slaughter 
took place on both sides, and the kings were slain. . . . 

"871. After one year, therefore, the army of the barba- 
rians set out for Reading, and the principal object of the 
impious crew was to attack the West-Saxons. . . . An inde- 
scribable battle is fought, now these, now those, urge on 
the fight with spears immovable. . . . The barbarians at 
last triumph. . . . Four days after King Ethelred with his 
brother Alfred fought again with all the army of the Danes 
at CEscesdune, and there was great slaughter on both sides; 
but at last King Ethelred obtained the victory." 

This battle of CEscesdune, or Aston, "the Hill or Down 
of the Ash," was remarkable, as it throws great light on Al- 
fred's character, his courage, and his good sense. 

Asser gives us a long; description of it. "The Battle of 

i -• -i • • t -t i i ■ it Aston, 

pagans had divided themselves into two bodies, 

and began to prepare defences ; for they had two kings, and 

many earls, so they gave the middle part of the army to the 



72 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

two kings, and the other part to all their earls. Which the 
Christians perceiving, divided their army :'' SI > into two 
troops, and also began to construct defences. But Alfred 
(as we have been told by those who were present, and would 
not tell an untruth) marched up promptly with his men to 
give them battle; but King Ethelred remained a long time 
in his tent in prayer, hearing the mass, and said that he 
would not leave it till the priest had done, or abandon the 
Divine protection for that of men. And he did so too, 
which afterwards availed him much with the Almighty, as 
we shall declare more fully in the sequel. . . . Now the 
Christians had determined that King Ethelred with his men 
should attack the two pagan kings; but that his brother 
Alfred, with his troops, should take the chance of war 
against the earls. Things being so arranged, the king 
remained a long time in prayer, and the pagans came up 
rapidly to fight. Then Alfred, though possessing subordi- 
nate authority, could no longer support the troops of the 
enemy, unless he retreated or charged upon them, without 
waiting for his brother. At length he bravely led his troops 
against the hostile army, as they had before arranged, but 
without awaiting his brother's arrival. . . . And when both 
armies had fought long and bravely, at last the pagans, by 
the Divine judgment, were no longer able to bear the 
attacks of the Christians, and, having lost the greater part 
of their army, took to a disgraceful flight. One of their 
two kings and five earls were there slain, together with 
many thousand pagans who fell on all sides, covering with 
their bodies the whole plain of Ashdune." 

Asser seems inclined to praise Ethelred for remaining so 

long at his prayers; but had Alfred done the same, the 

battle would have ended very differently. There was never 

a more truly religious man in the world than Al- 

Alfred's f re( j . i JU t he knew when he could serve God better 

c arac er. ^ WO rking than by praying. And this he kept in 
view all through his life. He* loved prayer and reading the 
Bible as well "as any saint, but he loved work and toil for 
his people too. His life and his mind were what we call 
well-balanced. And still more, he had one of those large, 
wide, sympathetic minds which can be keen and interested 
in many different Mays, and on many different subjects. 
When there was fighting to be done, he showed himself a 
brave soldier and a clever commander; but in time of peace 



ALFRED. 78 

he was eqaplly ready as a lawgiver, as a governor, and as a 
judge. He was like Bede in loving learning and teaching. 
He loved music, poetry, and books, hunting, hawking, and 
building. He loved clever men and their company ; he 
loved his wife and children. But there was a drawback to 
his labors and his pleasures, for he was an invalid all his life 
and suffered exceeding pain. 

He married when he was quite young, only nineteen years 
old. We know little about his wife, except that the two 
were evidently very happy together, and had a 
large and well brought up family. We may Marna £ e - 
judge how loving and faithful she was by the way Alfred 
himself writes in one of his books about the value of an 
affectionate wife. This is supposed to be written for the 
consolation of a husband who is in trouble and separated 
from Ids wife, and was partly a translation from an older 
writer, to which Alfred added some thoughts of his own. 
" She is exceedingly prudent, and very modest ; she has ex- 
celled all other women in purity. . . . She lives now for 
thee — thee alone. Hence she loves nought else but thee. 
She has enough of every good in this present life, but she 
has despised it all for thee. She has shunned it all because 
she has not thee also. This one thing is now wanting to 
her; thine absence makes her think that all which she pos- 
sesses is nothing." 

In 871, soon after the battle of Aston, Ethelred died, 
leaving two young sons. But in such troublous times no 
one thought of making an infant king. No one 871 
thought of any king but Alfred, who was already Alfred'be- 
so well known, admired, and trusted. According comes kin £- 
to the old English fashion, the most worthy member of the 
royal house was elected king. W T e do not hear of any 
holidays, or merry-making, or coronation ceremonies on his 
accession. It was indeed no time for rejoicing. Almost 
as soon as his brother was laid in the grave he had to march 
against the enemy, who were now at Reading. 

Soon we hear of them in all parts of the country — in 
Derbyshire, in Lincolnshire, at York, on the Tyne, at Exeter, 
at Warham, and in London. They did not come and depart 
as they once did. They took up winter quarters in different 
places, and then in the spring they went on ravaging. 

Though Egbert had made himself king and lord of all 
parts of England, Alfred, his grandson, had now hard work 



74 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

to continue king even of Wessex ; but lie maintained him- 
self, and kept the Danes at bay for seven years, both by sea 
and land. 

It is remarkable that after the Angles and Saxons, who 
were such brave sailors and " sea-wolves," had got possession 
of England, they appeared for a long time to have lost their 
love of the sea. They left off roving, and became farmers ; 
and if they wanted more excitement they fought one an- 
other. Alfred Avas the first who thought of establishing a 
navy ; he was the beginner of that glory of England, that 
she rules the waves. There was no coping with the Danes 
without a fleet ; no matter how many were killed, there 
were always fresh hordes of them coming from over the sea. 
"If in one day thousands of them were slain, on the next a 
double number were ready to fight again." Alfred deter- 
mined to cut off the supplies. He devised better 

His ships. ancl j ai .g. er s hjj )S . j ie m;mne d them with the bold- 
est sailors he could find, and set them to watch the Channel, 
so that no fresh troops or provisions should be landed. Once 
they had a great victory. A storm and a fog beset the 
Danes; Alfred's fleet came boldly forward, "their bands 
were discomfited in a moment, and all were sunk and 
drowned in the sea, at a place called Swane-wic," or, as we 
now call it, Swanage, on the rocky coast of Dorsetshire. 

Still the Danes pushed on. At the end of seven years 

things looked worse than ever, and the people began to lose 

courage. Many of the monasteries had been 

Disasters. i >unic ; t j . t ] ie bishops and monks wandered about 
the country with their precious relics, the bones of the saints 
and the sacred vessels, which they had rescued, and "were 
thankful when they could take refuge beyond the sea; 
whilst the heathen offered up sacrifices to Thor and Woden 
in the Christian churches. 

The people were reduced to the condition of servants or 
beggars; disorder and misery were everywhere. Alfred, 
with no army left, and only a few friends and his faithful 
wife, had to hide away in a miserable marsh, waiting for 
better times. 

Had he been a weak man now, all would have been lost. 
Many another man would have given in — would perhaps 
have gone off to Rome as a pious pilgrim (as some of the 
feebler kings had done), and ended his days in quiet. But 
Alfred trusted in God and bided his time. 



ALFRED. 75 

It was during this time that lie received the scolding for 
burning the cakes, according to the well-known story. In 
this time, too, is placed the beautiful story of the vision of 
St. Cuthbert. The tale is, that the king was sitting in his 
hut while his followers went to fish in a neighboring stream. 
He was reduced to great straits, for he had but one loaf of 
bread left and a small measure of wine. He was full of anx- 
ious thoughts, and was trying to comfort himself by reading 
the Psalms of David, when a poor man came begging to the 
door. Alfred received the poor beggar as if he had been 
the Saviour himself, and shared his little store of bread and 
wine with him. "The guest suddenly vanished, the bread 
was unbroken, the pitcher full of wine to the brim. Soon 
after the fishermen returned from the river, laden with a rich 
booty. In the following night St. Cuthbert appeared to 
him in a dream, and announced that his sufferings were 
about to end, and gave him all particulars of time and place. 
The king rose early in the morning, crossed over to the main- 
land in a boat, and blew his horn three times, 
the sound inspiring his friends with courage, and ies opes- 
carrying terror to the hearts of his enemies. By noon five 
hundred gallant warriors gathered round him, he acquainted 
them with the commands of God, and led them on to vic- 
tory." * 

In those days everybody was ready to expect and believe 
in miracles — Alfred, perhaps, as much as any one. But 
something of this kind may have really happened, and been 
a little embellished afterwards ; it is, at any rate, quite true 
that after that dreary winter the turning-point came. In 
the spring the king and his followers left their huts and hid- 
ing-places; they built a strong fort in the midst of the 
marshes, on a place which was then an island, though that 
district has since been drained and turned into dry land. 
He unfurled his royal banner, the people gathered joyfully 
around him, and hope began to revive. 

As soon as he had collected an army large and strong- 
enough, he marched against the camp of the Danes in Wilt- 
shire. They had a great fight at a place called Ethandune 
(Eddington), and the English gained a complete 
victory. Those of the Danes who were not killed ory ' 

in the battle took 'refuge in a fortress or fortified camp at 

* Pauli's " Life of Alfred." 



TO GUEST 8 ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Chippenham, and fourteen days after, subdued by hunger, 
cold, and misery, they submitted. 

Alfred was merciful ; he showed himself a true Christian 
hero. The Danish leader, Guthrum, made known that he 
wished to be a Christian. Alfred rejoiced, and became his 
godfather; he gave him the new name of Ethelstane at 
his baptism, and then they made a peace, known as the 
treaty of Wedmon. 

Alfred could not hope to do more than free his own 
kingdom of Wessex, with part of the old Mercia, from the 
Danes. They drew a boundary line from the mouth of the 
Thames to the source of the river Lea, and along the Ouse 
to Watling Street, the old road which the Romans had 
made. All beyond that line the Danes were allowed to 
keep ; their chiefs were, however, vassals or under-kings to 
Alfred; so that he was, in some sense, king of England, 
though his real authority was very small beyond the 
boundary line. 

The Danes settled down beyond that line among the Eng- 
lish, especially in East Anglia and Northumberland. It was 

c .., . agreed that those who would not become Chris- 
Settlement P , . - . „ . , . 

of ths tians should depart out of the country. As they 
Danes. B p te pretty nearly the same language and were 
of the same stock as the English, when they became of the 
same religion also they seem to have agreed together very 
fairly, and by degrees they intermarried and became one 
people. These Danes, then, were never driven away; their 
descendants are living there still, and are as truly English- 
men as any. We can often tell which were the settlements 
of the Danes by the names of places, especially names ending 
in " by " which was their word for "town." * In the parts of 
England where the Danes lived we find numbers of places 
Avhose names end in "by," as Derby. "Whitby, Enderby; but 
in the other parts, where the English lived, there are very 
few. 

But now that peace was restored, and the Danes driven 
out, it remained to be seen whether Alfred was as good a 
ruler as he Avas a soldier. We may imagine when the last 
of the Danes was fairly gone, and he could lay his sword 
aside, that he looked around upon the land with sorrow. The 

* By-laws and by-roads will occur to mind, signifying town ordi- 
nances and town-roads other than highways. 



ALFRED. 77 

towns, including London, were pillaged, ruined, or burned ; 
the monasteries destroyed; the people wild and lawless; igno- 
rance, roughness, insecurity everywhere. But 
with a brave heart he set himself to repair all St c ^? n tpy he 
this. Great and noble aims were still before him. 

First of all he seems to have sought for helpers. Like most 
able men, he was good at reading characters. He soon saw 
who would be true, brave, wise friends, and he collected 
these around him. Some of them he brought from France 
and Germany. Asser came from Wales, or, as he calls his 
country, " Western Britain," while England he calls " Sax- 
ony." He says he first saw Alfred "in a royal vill, Avhich is 
called Dene "in Sussex. "He received me with kindness, 
and asked me eagerly to devote myself to his service, and 
become his friend ; to leave everything which I possessed on 
the left or western bank of the Severn, and promised that 
he would give more than an equivalent for it in his own 
dominions. I replied that I could not rashly and incau- 
tiously promise such things; for it seemed to be unjust that 
I should leave those sacred places in which I had been bred, 
educated, crowned,* and ordained, for the sake of any earthly 
honor ahd power, unless upon compulsion. Upon this he 
said, ' If you cannot accede to this, at least let me have 
your service in part ; spend six months of the year with me 
here, and the other six months in Britain." And to this, 
after a time, Asser consented. 

The principal things to which he turned his mind after 
providing for the defence of his kingdom, and collecting his 
friends and counsellors about him, were the establishment of 
law, justice, religion, education. 

He collected and studied the old laws of his nation ; what 
he thought good he kept, what he disapproved he 
left out. He added others, especially the ten Laws - 
commandments and some other parts of the law of Moses. 
Then he laid them all before his Witan, or council of wise 
men, and with their approval published them. 

It is important that laws should be wise and just, but it 
is of more vital consequence that they should be efficiently 
and impartially administered. Some of the worst- 
governed nations may have good statutes, but if Justlce - 

* This means shaven on the crown of the head, as all priests were 
in those days. 



7$ GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

their judges and executive officers are wicked, ignorant, or 
avaricious, the ideal justice will not be seen in the courts 
nor pass into the lives of men. The administration of jus- 
tice in England was deplorable at this time. The judges 
were either incompetent or unjust, and when a cause was 
brought before them they decided so unfairly that no one 
was satisfied. Sometimes they were afraid of a powerful 
man who had done wrong, or oppressed his neighbors, and 
did not dare to pronounce against him ; or they would allow 
a rich man to give them bribes to take his part. Thus the 
poor were trampled on, and the rich and strong were en- 
couraged in wrong-doing. 

Alfred's way of remedy was by inquiring into all cases, 
as far as he possibly could, himself; and Asser says he did 
this " especially for the sake of the poor, to whose interest, 
day and night, he ever was wonderfully attentive; for in 
the whole kingdom the poor, besides him, had few or no 
protectors." And he was so acute, and clear-headed, and 
just, that all the people of the land longed to have their 
causes laid before him, except those who knew they Avere in 
the wrong, and knew, too, that they could not bribe or 
frighten the king. When he found that the judges had 
made mistakes through ignorance, he rebuked them, and 
told them they must either grow wiser or give up their 
posts ; and soon the old earls and other judges, who had 
been unlearned from their cradles, began to study dili- 
gently ; and if, as was most often the case, they could not 
read themselves, they would get their sons, or even servants, 
to read to them, " while they lamented with deep sighs in 
their inmost hearts that in their youth they had never 
attended to such studies." 

For reviving and spreading religion among his people he 

used the best means that he knew of; that is, he founded 

new monasteries and restored old ones, and did 

Religion, j^ u t mos t, t g e t good bishops and clergymen. 
For his own part, he strove to practise in all ways what he 
taught to others. Asser says that from his infancy he was 
" a frequenter of holy places for prayer and almsgiving, and 
that, whether in prosperity or adversity, he never neglected 
holy meditation." But his religion went farther than this ; 
it was a spirit that pervaded all he did and all he had. He 
made a resolution to give to God the half of his services, 
bodily and mental, the half of his time, and the half of his 



ALFRED. 79 

money. But the remaining half he so wisely bestowed, in 
teaching, training, and benefiting his people, and in show- 
ing kindness, too, to strangers and foreigners who needed it, 
— in doing God's work, both of justice and mercy, — that 
we may rather say he gave all to God. He, who was so 
fond of reading the Psalms, might have written the 101st 
Psalm himself, as a picture of his own life. 

" I will walk within my house with a perfect heart 

I will not know a wicked person. 

Whoso privily slandereth his neighbor, him will I cut off. 

Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may 

dwell with me : 
lie that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. 
He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: 
He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. 
I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; 
That I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord." 

Education was in the worst condition possible after the 
wars with the Danes. We heard before that it was only 
the clergy who were supposed to have any book- 
learning, but after the troubles that had come it, Education - 
seems it was not expected even of them. All the schools 
had been broken up. Alfred says that when he began to 
reign there were very few clergymen south of the Humber 
who could even understand the Prayer-book (that was still in 
Latin, as the Roman missionaries had brought it), and south 
of the Thames he could not remember one. His first care 
was to get better-educated clergy. 

And then he established schools for the laity and pro- 
cured the best teachers. Pie founded new monasteries and 
restored the old ones which had been ruined. He had a 
school in his court for his own children and the children of 
his nobles. 

But at the very outset a most serious difficulty confronted 
Alfred, and that was to get books. At this time, as far as 
we can judge, there can have been only one, or at 

most two books in the English language the Books - 

long poem of Caedmon about the creation of the world, etc., 
and the poem of Beowulf about warriors and fiery drao-ons. 
There were many English ballads and songs, but whether 
these were in writing is not known. 

There was no book of history, not even English history ; 



80 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

none of geography, no religious books, no philosophy. Bede, 
who had written so many books, had written them all in 
Latin. (We may hope his English translation of St. John 
was still in existence, though it is lost now.) 

Alfred had by this time, with a great deal of trouble, 
learned Latin, and he knew that there were plenty of good 
books in that language which might be translated into Eng- 
lish. Here is part of a letter which he wrote to a friend 
of his, a bishop, on this subject. 

. . "I wondered greatly that of those good, wise men 
who were formerly in our nation, and who had all learned 
fully these books, none would translate any part into their 
own language. ... I then recollected how the law was first 
revealed in the Hebrew tongue, and that after the Greeks 
had learned it they turned it all into their own language, 
and also other books; and the Latin men likewise when they 
had learned it . . . turned it into their own tongue, and 
also every other Christian nation translated some parts. 
Therefore I think it better, if you think so, that we also 
translate some books, the most necessary for all men to 
know, into our own language; and we may do this, with 
God's help, very easily, if we have stillness." 

So when they had a time of "stillness" the king and his 
learned friends set to work and translated books into Eng- 
lish ; and Alfred, who was as modest and candid as he was 
wise, put into the preface of one of his translations that 
he hoped, if any one knew Latin better than he did, that he 
would not blame him, for he could but do according to his 
ability. 

For a religious book he chose one which had been written 
in Latin by Gregory the Great ; the very Gregory who sent 
the missionaries to England, and who, it was believed, was 
inspired by the Holy Ghost. In old pictures and statues 
of Gregory we often see him with a dove on his shoulder 
whispering into his ear. 

For the history of England he took that beautiful and 
naive one by Bede, from which quotations have been made. 
He also encouraged, if he did not write, the "Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle," which had been very dry and poor before, but 
became full and interesting in his reign. This is the first 
history of themselves written by any Teutonic people in 
their own language ; and not only scholars in England, but 
in Germany also, take great interest in it. Extracts from 



ALFRED. 81 

it will be given hereafter, for it was carried on for some 
hundreds of years after this time. 

For geography and general history he took a Latin book 
by Orosius, who was a friend cff St. Augustine, and wrote in 
the fifth century. This he altered and added to, for in the 
time which had passed since it was written, men had learned 
more about some parts of the earth. 

Then he translated a book called the "Consolations of 
Philosophy," and added to that a great many wise thoughts 
of his own. He tells us some of his ideas about the govern- 
ment of his kingdom. "Thou knowest that covetousness 
and the possession of this earthly power I did not well like, 
nor strongly desired at all this earthly kingdom. But oh! 
I desired materials for the work I was commanded to do. 
. . . These are the materials of a king's work and his tools 
to govern with — that he should have his land fully peopled ; 
that he should have prayer-men, and army-men, and work- 
men." . . . 

Besides all this, he had many other occupations. Asser, 
who often lived with him for months at a time, gives us an 
account of his busy life. Notwithstanding his infirm- 
ities and other hindrances, "he continued to carry ^J^ 81 " 
on the government, and to exercise hunting in all 
its branches; to teach his workers in gold and artificers of 
all kinds, his falconers, hawkers, and dog-keepers; to build 
houses, majestic and good, beyond all the precedents of his 
ancestors, by his new mechanical inventions; to recite the 
Saxon books (Asser, being a Welshman, always calls Eng- 
lish, Saxon), and especially to learn by heart the Saxon 
poems, and to make others learn them ; he never desisted 
from studying most diligently to the best of his ability; he 
attended the mass and other daily services of religion ; he 
was frequent in psalm-singing and prayer ; . . . he be- 
stowed arms and largesses on both natives and foreigners of 
all countries; he was affable and pleasant to all, and curi- 
ously eager to investigate things unknown." 

He not only sent presents to the different Christian 
churches in Rome, Jerusalem, etc., but all the way to India, 
where there were some Christian settlements, and this was 
the very first intercourse between England and India. 

In the midst of all this business he had a great want — he 
could not tell how the time went. In those days there were 
no clocks in England, and the sun and the stars are a very an- 



82 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

certain resource in a cloudy and foggy country. Alfred had 
wax candles make very carefully, each of which would burn 
a certain time. Then, however, a fresh difficulty arose, 
which gives us an odd notion of the comfort even of kings' 
palaces in those days. The candles, however carefully 
weighed, often burnt out before their time, on account of 
the violence of the wind, which blew through the doors and 
windows, and the cracks and fissures in the walls, both of 
churches and palaces. But the king's ingenuity soon hit 
upon an expedient to remedy tliis; it was no other than a 
lantern of horn ! by means of which protection the candle- 
clocks burned for exactly the appointed period. 

Thus Alfred's years went by. He had more trouble with 

the Danes before his reign was over, but they were fully 

conquered and driven off again. Then followed four more 

years of peace, after which he died, being only fifty- 

901, three years old. He was worn out before his timcy 
no doubt, by ceaseless toil ; and has left behind him, not " a 
name at which the world grows pale," but a name at which 
every English heart grows warm with pride and gratitude 
and love. 



CHAPTER X. 



ENGLAND IN PROSPERITY. 



Alfred's descendants. Etkelstane. Condition of the people. Ranks of society. 
The poor. Slavery. Treatment of women. Food, amusements, dress, 
buildings. The names for the months. 

Though Alfred died at a comparatively early age, hap- 
pily for England lie left worthy children behind him. His 
eldest son, Edward, was made king, and under him 901 
England became greater and more glorious than it Edward 
had ever yet been. He seems to have been quite 
as skilful a warrior and ruler as his father, but though he 
had had a good education, he was not so fond of study and 
books. Alfred had taken special pains in training him and 
his eldest sister to succeed him in governing the kingdom 
and protecting it from the Danes. The sister, Ethelfled, 
was married to an alderman, a title which has been ex- 
plained before. At the time of this reign an alderman seems 
to have been almost the same as a viceroy or under-king. 
Though Alfred was king over all (in a sense), still it was 
hundreds of years before it was forgotten that Mercia, 
Northumberland, and the others had been once separate 
kingdoms, and frequently in the history a king crops up 
among them, especially in the north. 

Ethelfled's husband was Alderman or Viceroy of Mercia, 

and he helped Alfred and Edward most gallantly in the 

struggle with the Danes. After he died Ethelfled „,-, T , 

it- i t • i tii The Lady 

took his place, and was quite as brave and gallant of the 

as he. In King Alfred's will he made a distinction Mercians - 
between what he called the "spear-half" and the "spindle- 
half " of his family. He provided very liberally for his wife 
and daughters ; but had he lived to see how Ethelfled led 
armies, built fortresses, and conquered enemies, he would 
perhaps have said she belonged to the " spear-half." 

She helped her brother Edward in defending the kingdom 
which Alfred left, and in reconquering the other part of 

83 



84 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Mercia where the Danes had settled themselves very strongly, 
and had founded the five boroughs which were called the 
" Danish boroughs," Derby, Lincoln, Leicester, Stamford, and 
Nottingham. The boroughs themselves, however, were not 
conquered till some time afterwards. They also reconquered 
Essex and East Anglia, and they built forts in all directions. 
This was something quite new in English or Anglo-Saxon 
warfare, for all the German race hated walls and cities. But 
in the time of danger they had most likely often profited by 
the strong walls which the old Romans had built in many 
places, which were still standing firm, and so, by degrees, 
they became partly reconciled to fortresses and walled towns, 
though they still loved the open forest and plain better. 

When Ethelfled, " the Lady of the Mercians," died, her 

brother succeeded to her dominions, and thus became king 

over all England south of the Humber. Here he 

sU>n b ofthe was so ^ e king, with no under-kings ; but he was now 

whole so powerful that all the other princes and kings in 

island. the islaiK | Bu bnrittcd to him. The Welsh and the 

Scotch had suffered from the Danes as much as the English 

had done, and no doubt they felt the need of a powerful 

protector ; so " the kings of North Wales, and all the 

922. x ortn Welsh raC e 5 sought him for lord." North 

Wales meant all that we call Wales now, and as these 

North Welsh were the descendants of the ancient Britons, 

we may say that their conquest was now complete for the 

time. Then a year or two afterwards "the king of 

924, the Scots, and all the nation of the Scots, and all 

those who dwelt in Northumbria, . . . and also the king of 

the Strathclyde Welsh and all the Strathclyde Welsh, chose 

him for father and lord." 

Edward was the over-king of all these; they owed him 
service, and he owed them protection. These under-kings 
and imder-lords are called "vassals;" and we shall find the 
same system become more and more general throughout 
Europe as we so on. Thus Edward may be considered as 
sole king of England south of the Humber, and over-lord, or 
emperor, as he is sometimes called, of all the rest of the 
island — of all the Welsh and all the Scotch. 

After his death his son Ethelstane was made king. He 

was as grand a king as his father. He too had had 

_ . 9 , 25 - the advantage of being partly trained up by his 

grandfather Alfred ; for we read that he was brought 



ENGLAND IN PROSPERITY. 85 

up at Alfred's court, and that, being a beautiful and gentle 
boy, with golden hair, his grandfather was delighted with 
him ; prophesied that he would have a fortunate reign when 
his turn came, and gave him a royal purple mantle, a belt 
set with precious stones, and a sword in a golden sheath. 

Ethelstane added to his father's kingdom the whole of 
Northumberland, so he was really king of England ; very 
much the same England that it is now, except Cumberland, 
or Strathclvde, which had its own under-king 
still. But he had to fight for it. The Danes, 937> 
Welsh, and Scotch joined together in rebellion, and at Bru- 
nanburh they were vanquished in one of the greatest fights 
ever fought on English soil. It seems. to have been such a 
glorious victory that the scribe in the "Anglo-Saxon Chroni- 
cle" could not be content with telling it in a plain way, but 
broke out into poetry. 

As we have now come to the palmy days of the Anglo- 
Saxon kingdom, let us try to gain some clearer idea of the 
habits and manner of life of our forefathers in those times. 

From the earliest times they had had different ranks of 
society, as in England to-day, only that they were still more 
distinct. The earls thought they were of differ- 
ent birth and orioin altogether, although. Alfred Ranks of 

© © ■ * © society, 

taught them that men were all of one blood, say- 
ing, " Every one knows that all men come from one father 
and one mother." The earls were the nobles, and the churls 
w r ere the freemen, who were not noble, but who nearly always 
owned some land and had a voice in the government. But 
there was by this time another class of nobles also, who were 
not necessarily born so. These were the king's special 
followers and servants, whom he used to reward with lands 
and titles, as now a clever lawyer or a victorious soldier is 
often made a lord, and has money or land given him. 
These newer nobles were called "thanes" or "thegns." A 
churl might rise to be a thane, but in the old times he could 
never rise to be an earl. 

An English king was not absolute; that is, he could not 
govern according to his own will ; he had to get the consent 
of the " wise men " for all that lie commanded. Th Wit na _ 
The earls and the thanes, the bishops and the gemot, or 
abbots, were all supposed to be wise ; and these Wltan - 
formed an assembly or council for the king to refer to. The 
assembly was called in the old English language "Witan" 



86 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

or " Witenagemot." Witan meant wise or "witty" men, 
and gemot meant assembly. 

We can see the values they put upon the different ranks 
by the punishments that were fixed for injuring or killing 
them. In our days the murder of an archbishop, a duke, or 
a beggar is the same crime. The life of every man. woman, 
or child is held of the same value; but in those days there 
was a great difference. The punishment was generally a 
fine in money, paid to the family of the slaughtered man to 
compensate them for their loss. In the scale of fines fixed 
in Alfred's time, we find that to kill a king cost 120 shillings. 
Money was worth a great deal more then than it is now, and 
this was considered a very large sum. Moreover, this had 
to be paid twice over — once to the king's own family, and 
again to the nation, because both had suffered loss. For an 
archbishop the slayer had to pay ninety shillings; for a bishop, 
alderman, or earl, sixty shillings; and so on, down to the 
simple churl, for whom the penalty was only five shillings! 

But below all these there was a race of people whose 
family got nothing at all. These were the slaves or 

Slaves. c« thralls." If any one killed a slave he only had to 
make compensation to his master for the loss of his services, 
as he would have done for killing his horse or his ox. We 
are not to think our forefathers were worse than other 
people in having slaves, for in that age this was the univer- 
sal practice. The slaves belonging to the English were 
partly descended from the old conquered Britons, but were 
partly of the same race as themselves. Sometimes freemen 
were degraded into slaves in punishment for some crime; 
sometimes they sank into that class through poverty, or sold 
their children into it. It was permitted by law to a poor 
man to sell his child, provided the child consented. 

The old English slaves, though we read very little of them 
in history, were really the largest part of the people. There 
were many more slaves than freemen, just as now there are 
many more poor men and laborers than there are rich 
people. One advantage in studying history is to notice how 
things have changed for the better. We have already ob- 
served how differently wars were carried on after the intro- 
duction of Christianity, and at the present time they are far 
less savage than they were even two or three hundred years 
ago. The condition of the poor is another thing in which 
there is a ureat and wonderful change for the better. 



ENGLAND IN PROSPERITY. 87 

A thousand years ago, nearly all the working elasses in Eng- 
land — ploughmen, shepherds, carpenters, cooks, and dairy- 
maids — were slaves. It is difficult to realize such a state- 
ment. If an English laborer is not satisfied with his wages 
or his treatment he is at liberty to change; but a thousand 
years ago he was rooted to the soil, and under the absolute 
power of his master. If the servant was goaded into run- 
ning away, his master might pursue him, and kill him if he 
chose. He would not be punished for killing him any more 
than a farmer would be punished for killing a vicious bull 
or an unruly horse. The master also, if he chose, might sell 
his servants. A slave was worth about five or ten shillings 
in those days, and there was a regular slave-market at Bris- 
tol, which went on for hundreds of years. The master 
might whip them, or chain or brand them. Though it does 
not appear that they were often very cruel, still, with these 
powers we may imagine what a passionate or tyrannical 
master might make his slaves suffer. 

The slaves were sometimes sold into foreign parts, but in 
general they were kept to the land on which they were 
born. If a man sold his farm or his estate, he sold Avith it 
the men, and the cattle, and the crops. If he made a will, 
he would mention in it the house, furniture, money, land, 
and slaves. 

Christianity had done something to improve the condition 
of slaves and would do more. We remember that good 
Bishop Wilfred, who taught the Sussex men to catch fish, 
had set his two hundred and fifty slaves free. Many Influence 
other bishops and clergymen did the same, and they of Chris- 
taught the laity to follow their example. Though tiamt y- 
the law did not punish a master for killing his slave, the 
church made him do penance for it as a sin. In those days 
the church exercised a power that we can hardly under- 
stand. It was thought a very dreadful thing to be under 
the displeasure of the church, and the fear of that would 
hinder many a man from cruelty. By degrees it became a 
custom for many to give liberty to their slaves. In some 
old wills we read, "Lst Wulfware be freed; let Elfsige and 
his wife and his eldest daughter be freed; let Pifus be 
freed." Sometimes a master would free his slave while he 
was still living. The slave would be taken to the church 
porch, or the altar, and solemnly set at liberty, and the 
record of it would be written in one of the church books ; 



88 GXTBSTS ENGLISH HISTORY, 

or his master would take him to a place where four roads 
met, and tell him to go whichever way he pleased. 

From time to time laws were made for the good of 
the slaves. Their master had to give them two loaves every 
day besides the morning and noontide meals. They had 
their Sundays and other holidays, and, in some way or other, 
they had some money. We know that this was so, for we 
read that they sometimes possessed enough to buy their own 
freedom and that of their wives and children. One man 
bought freedom for himself, his wife, their children, and 
grandchildren for two pounds. 

But while the slaves were thus gradually rising, the other 
poor people, the freemen, were gradually sinking. 
Villeins. r^ e c h ur i s were becoming villains or villeins. T7/- 
lain at first only meant a villager or farm-servant, a country- 
man, as a villa means a country house, and used to mean a 
farm. By degrees it came to have a bad meaning, as so many 
other words have done; for instance, pagan and heathen. 

When it is said that the churls were sinking into villains 

is not meant that they were becoming wicked and villanons, 

„. , t , but that thev were seeking masters. As the weaker 
Rise of the . , J . ,s 

feudal princes and kings sought out a stronger one to be 
system. t ] K ,\ v mas ter and protector, so private men who were 
not rich or strong tried to get souk- powerful man as master 
and protector. They became his "men," and had to do him 
service, so at last there was hardly a poor and free man left 
who was not bound to a lord. Such a person lost all share 
in the government, and became in many cases much like a 
slave, tied to the land, and with no free will of his own. 

This was, perhaps, in some respects a good thing for the 
poor man at that time, when there were so many wars and 
troubles. In those old days the words lord and lady must 
have had a pleasant sound. They were spelled hlat'ord, 
hlaefdige. Hlaf is the old English word for loaf. Hlaford 
and hlaefdige, which look very uncouth and unpronounce- 
able, and which time has shortened and smoothed down into 
lord and lady, meant giver of bread or loaf. 

This system of subordinating ranks of men, from under- 
kings and princes down to the thralls, prevailed over many 
parts of Europe for some centuries, and was called the 
"feudal system." It was more definitely established in Eng- 
land two centuries after the time of Alfred, but the things 
now mentioned were the beginnings of it. 



ENGLAND IN PROSPERITY. 89 

It is pleasant to find that the nobles, gentry, and farmers 
or yeomen still treated women with great respect, as they 
did in the days when Tacitus wrote of them. The EgST3ect 
English women, in the times at which we have now towards 
arrived, nearly eight hundred years after Tacitus, wom8n - 
still received much honor and consideration. Some were 
even known to sit among the "wise men" in the Wit- 
enagemot, though no ladies nowadays sit in the Houses of 
Parliament. They used to be present at all the feasts. They 
had property of their own, and could sell it or make wills 
to dispose of it as they liked; and many laws were made to 
protect them in all ways. Thus we see the "spindle-half " 
were well cared for. 

The rich people fared very well, and ate many of the same 
things that we do. They had wh eaten bread, but the 
poor only got barley bread, because it was cheaper. 
They had plenty of beef, mutton, fowls, venison, and F d r f n | nd 
hares; but they had also what we do not eat now, 
goats, and at one time horses. It seems that the Church 
forbade the eating of horses, because in heathen times it used 
to be done in honor of Woden. The clergy were not above 
looking after the food and manners of the people. They 
made them do penance if they ate anything only half-cooked, 
or anything dirty. More pork or bacon, however, was eaten 
than anything else. The country was still in great part 
covered with woods and forests, and it was easy to fatten 
pigs upon acorns and beech-nuts. The word "bacon" is 
perhaps derived from "beechen." They ate fish, especially 
eels ; also salmon, herrings, lobsters, oysters, etc., and por- 
poises, which we should not wish for now. They had plenty 
of vegetables and fruit. They had cabbages, but no pota- 
toes, nor rice ; and instead of sugar the}' used a great deal of 
honey. They esteemed spices highly, but things which had 
to be brought from abroad, as sugar and spice, were very 
rare. It was considered quite a handsome present to send 
some pepper and cinnamon to a lady. 

The English still liked that "kind of drink made from 
barley" which Tacitus mentions. They had their strong 
ale and their mild ale, and this seems to have been the prin- 
cipal drink of those who could afford it. If the poor could 
not get ale they drank water or buttermilk. Wine, like 
sugar and spice, was a sort of luxury. There were grapes in 
England at this time, but they probably got very little and 



90 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

very sour wine from them, while the wine imported from 
the Continent would be expensive. Our favorite and com- 
mon drinks, — tea, coffee, and cocoa, — they had never even 
heard of. They drank, however, mead and other beverages, 
made from honey, which are seldom seen now. 

Unhappily, they were still, like the old Germans described 
by Tacitus, too fond of drinking; and though the clergy 
made a great many laws against drunkenness, they 
Banquets. were nf)t muc ]j attended to. If a king or a great 
man made a feast, the guests began early, and continued 
drinking all day long. 

It was a common thing at festivals to have music and 

singing. In those days, when so few people could read, and 

there were so few books, it was a great delight to 

Amuse- the people to hear stories and histories in verse ; 

XUGHlS J. i / 

and a man who could play on the harp and sing 
ballads was everywhere welcome. He was called a glee- 
man. 

They had tumblers and dancing bears ; and they also had 
jugglers, of whom some amusing pictures remain. There is 
one of a man throwing three knives and three balls alter- 
nately into the air and catching them. Then, as was men- 
tioned before, they liked hunting, hawking, wrestling, and 
such-like athletic sports. 

They were fond of handsome clothes. Both gentlemen 
and ladies wore ornaments, such as necklaces, bracelets, and 

rings of gold. They liked dresses of different colors, 
Dress - and with ornamented borders and stripes. Most of 
this we learn from the pictures with which they ornamented 
their books, and which are still in existence. When they 
made a picture to illustrate a story in the Bible, they repre- 
sented the actors as being dressed just like the men and 
women about them. So they painted King David and the 
other psalmists as a frontispiece to the Book of Psalms; and 
they made David sitting on his throne and playing on a 
harp, and the other four around him : one playing a violin, 
one blowing a horn, another a trumpet, and the last tossing 
up knives and balls. This one was Ethan, who is said to 
have written the grand eighty-ninth Psalm. And when 
they painted the four evangelists they dressed them in the 
garments which people were then accustomed to wear. St. 
Matthew was represented in a purple undergown with long- 
sleeves and a yellow border, and a green upper robe, striped 



ENGLAND IN PROSPERITY. 91 

with red. He sits on a stool with a brown cushion, but no 
back. 

In considering these costumes we see they must have had 
people who could dye, spin, weave, and embroider. The 
ladies, even of princely rank, spent the greater part 
of their time in such employments. There are de- 
scriptions of very beautiful embroidered robes, with figures 
of peacocks and other ornaments. They had also gold- 
smiths and jewellers to make the rings, bracelets, and other 
ornaments of which they were so fond. 

The clergy of those days used to complain of extravagance 
in dress and ornaments, just as they do now, and as Isaiah 
did before them. 

Their houses were rather plain and inconvenient, and 
mostly built of wood: but their churches and monasteries 
were expensive and handsome. Some few of them 
remain to the jDresent time. They were strong and U1 ing:s ' 
heavy, with very thick pillars and round arches, for pointed 
arches had not yet been invented. The churches built in 
Italy at the same period all had round arches. Many of 
them are still to be seen, for in that climate buildings stand 
much longer than they do in England ; but though they are 
of the same style of architecture, we cannot but own that 
they are far more beautiful and interesting than any of those 
of the same age in England. 

Though the houses were not handsome without, they were 
often finely ornamented within. Rich people had beautiful 
hangings on the walls, made of silk, and sometimes 
decorated with golden birds, or with pictures in Furmture - 
needle-work. It seems, however, that these splendid hang- 
ings were only put up on grand occasions, and that ordinarily 
they had all those windy draughts through the crevices of 
the walls which obliged Alfred to invent his lanterns. 

The furniture of the rich seems to have been very hand- 
some. They had fine stools and benches, but very seldom 
any chairs with backs. Their tables were ornamented with 
gold and silver, and they had dishes and cups of gold, 
though the commonest sort of drinking-cups were horns, for 
glass was still very scarce. They had not yet learned to use 
forks. 

Though we still call our days of the week by the same 
names our forefathers did, we have left off their names for 
the months, and adopted the Roman ones instead. The 



92 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

following is a list of the old names said to have been given 
to the months by the Anglo-Saxons, and if it is a correct one, 
it gives ns some picturesque little hints of the state of the 
country and ways of the people at that time: — 

January. Wolf-month; "because people are wont always in that 
month to be in more danger to be devoured of wolves than in any 
season else of the year; for that through the extremity of cold and 
snow these ravenous beasts could not find sufficient to feed on." 

February. Sprout-kail (or cabbage). 

March. Lent-month. " Lent'' or " lenz," an old German word for 
spring, and which we give to the forty days of fasting, because 
they fall in the spring. 

April. Easter or Oster-rnonth. 

May. Tri-milki; because in that month they began to milk their 
cows three times a day. 

June. Weid-month or Pasture-month. 

July. Hay-month. 

August. Barn-month; because they filled their barns with corn. 

September. Barley-month; either barley-harvest or brewing-month. 

October. Wine-month; when they still attempted to make wine. 

November. Windy-month. 

December. Winter-month, or Holy-mouth, in honor of Christmas. 



CHAPTER XI. 



DUNSTAN. 



The kings after Ethelstane. Edgar the Peaceable. The wolf-tribute. The vas- 
sal-kings. St. Dunstan. The religion of the period. Superstitions — witches 
— the ordeal. 

After the death of Ethelstane, his two younger brothers, 
Edmund the Magnificent (or the doer of great deeds) and 
Edred the Excellent, were kings in turn. Judging 
by their surnames, there seems some reason for Ed 940- d 
thinking that Alfred's grandsons were worthy of 
him ; but they, and most of the other kings of their line, 
had very short lives, and all through their reigns we find the 
principal interest centres in one man, a priest named Dun- 
stan. Unlike the kings, Dunstan had a long life, and we 
read of him in six reigns in succession. 

It is difficult to form a just opinion about Dunstan, be- 
cause different writers give such very different accounts of 
him. One writes of him thus: "See how he hath been 
honored, whom God thought worthy of honor? See in what 
manner he hath entered into the joy of his Lord, Avho was 
found faithful over the talents committed to his charge." 
Another (our old friend Fuller), after mentioning that Dun- 
stan caused some one to do penance for seven years, goes on : 
"All that I will add is this: if Dunstan did septenary pen- 
ance for every mortal sin he committed, he must have been 
a Methuselah, extremely aged, before the day of his death." 
A modern writer calls him "the villain Dunstan," and says 
he was " an imperious, audacious, ill-conditioned priest." 

Let us endeavor to arrive at a just opinion of him by 
some survey of his acts. First, then, we certainly find that 
in the governing of the country Dunstan gave good advice, 
and the kings who took him for their counsellor ruled Q59 
well and wisely. Edgar especially, who reigned Edgar the 
longer than some of them, and who made Dunstan Peaceab e - 
almost what we should now call his " prime minister," 

93 



04 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

had a very glorious reign. Let us observe how Edgar 
governed. 

His very surname is propitious, for he was called Edgar 
the Peaceable. There were no foreign invasions, and 
scarcely any fighting throughout his reign. After all the 
ravages and wars we have heard of, we can imagine the 
blessing this time of peace must have been to the country. 
It was not gained without trouble. Edgar, following Al- 
fred's example, had a tine fleet of ships, which every year 
sailed round the island. Very often the king went with it, 
and the Danes were prevented from ever landing. When 
he was not with his ships, Edgar spent a great deal of time 
in travelling about the country and seeing that the judges 
and magistrates did their duty, and that order and justice 
were preserved. Thus the country was peaceful and pros- 
perous, and long afterwards the people looked back fondly 
upon Edgar and Edgar's law. 

Though no fresh invasion of the Danes took place, there 
were, it will be remembered, a great ninny of them settled 
down in the land. Edgar allowed them to be governed by 
laws of their own choosing, and in every respect made them 
equal to the English. 

The thing most needful of all for the strengthening and 
l^rosperity of the kingdom was that it should be consolidated; 

n^.^Ar. that is, that the different provinces and sub-king- 
Lonsolida- iii n 1 1 • J -, c i , 

tionof the doms should really obey him, and come to feel them- 
kingdom. ge j ves one n;l tion. This was the great aim of Ed- 
gar's reign ; and in all he did, Dunstan was his principal 
helper and adviser. All the different under-kings became 
submissive, and he had hardly ever any need to fight for his 
supremacy. We read that he was rowed on the river Dee 
at Chester by eight of these vassal kings, while he himself 
steered the boat. Of the eight, one was the King of Scot- 
land, one of Strathclyde, one of the Isles (Fuller says this 
one Avas "a great sea-robber, who may pass for the prince of 
pirates"), and five were princes of different parts of "Wales. 
One of these Welshmen is said to have had to pay a trib- 
ute to the king, instead of in money, in wolves' heads. If 
this story is true, it certainly shows that Edgar cared for 

the good of the people more than for getting money 
The wolf- himself. They say that three hundred wolves' heads 

were paid every year for three years, and that after 
that time they could not find wolves enough to pay it again. 



DTJNSTAM. 95 

But they did not really extirpate or put an end to the wolves 

for a long time after that. In the poem of the chronicler on 
Ethelstane's battle of Brunanburh we hear of the wolves. 
After the victory was won, it says: — 

"the brothers 
Both together, 

King and Etheling (or prince royal), 
their country sought, 
the West-Saxon's land, 
in war exulting. 
They left behind them 
the carcases to share 
the swarthy raven, 
the white-tailed eagle 
with goodly plumage, 
the greedy war-hawk, 
and that gray beast 
the wolf of the weald." 

A great many different tales are told about Edgar's pri- 
vate life and character; it is to lie feared he may not have 
been so good a man as he was a great king. There is a 
curious and romantic old story about his second marriage to 
Elfthryth, or Elfrida,* but it seems very uncertain whether 
it is true. It is, at any rate, true that he married Elfrida, 
and there seems little doubt that, though very beautiful, she 
was a wicked woman. 

We must now give some attention to the state of religion 
at this time, and to Dunstan's plans with respect to it. We 
have already seen that in those days one who wished T , . 
to further religion thought that he could do it in no of the 
better way than by founding or enriching monaste- Church - 
ries. The description of the monastery in which Bede lived 
and died lias been quoted as a sort of ideal. There were 
piety and learning, praises of God, teaching of men, writ- 
ing and translating good books; and, again, cultivating the 
ground, tending the garden, orchard, and dairy. But even 
in Bede's time things were not always like this; many 
monks were idle and wicked ; many monasteries could not 
be said to be houses of God. lie gives a circumstantial 
account of the condition of one which is far from pleasant 
reading. 

The other clergy who were not monks lived as clergymen 

* Told in Freeman's " Old English History," p. 178. 



96 GUEST\s ENGLISH HISTORY. 

do now, in their own houses, with their wives and families, 

■n„„„*„„'„ and performed the services in the parish churches 
Dunstan s .. i . ..,, .. , i , , 

plans of and cathedrals. 1 hese were called the secular clergy, 
• and the monks the regvlar clergy. The secular 
clergy, as we saw in the life of Alfred, had become very 
ignorant, and probably very irreligious also. Though Alfred 
had done all a man could do to improve them, there still 
remained much to be done, and Dunstan was very earnest in 
his wish to reform the evils he saw. Bat most people in our 
time would not approve of his methods of reform. One 
great thing at which he aimed was to make the clergymen 
give up their wives. It had gradually come to be believed 
that it was more holy and more pleasing to God to deny the 
natural affections and remain unmarried. Many of the old 
saints had forsaken their wives or their husbands, and this 
was considered a mark of great sanctity. Again, the popes 
had begun to think that the clergy would be more efficient 
and more interested if they had no wives and children to 
provide for. 

As Dunstan's chief purpose was to make the clergymen 
separate from their wives, we may imagine what a struggle 
would ensue, and how the clergy would hate him. This 
change was not peculiar to England: it was made in all 
other parts of the Western Church, — that is, the Church 
which was under the Pope, ■ — and caused great tumults in 
many parts, at which we cannot wonder. 

Dunstan also favored the monks or regular clergy, and tried 
to put them above the secular. Wherever he could, he 
turned out the clergy from the cathedrals and large churches, 
and put monks in their place. Fuller owns the clergy were 
not so good as they ought to have been, but he thinks that 
the monks were much worse. " The hive of the Church was 
in no whit bettered by putting out drones and placing wasps 
in their room." 

In these two points Dunstan's reforms might almost be 
looked on as destructive; but, on the other hand, he strove 
in many ways to restore piety, learning, and purity. He 
took pains to revive the intercourse between the English and 
foreign churches, which had rather fallen off. The priests 
were bidden to take care of their churches, and give all their 
time to their sacred work. They were not to indulge in idle 
speech, idle deeds, or excessive drinking; nor were they to 
hunt, hawk, or dice. They were not to be boastful, or " to 



DUXSTA>\ 07 

put another to shame for his ignorance, hut to teach him 

better." Xor were the high-born to despise the low-born. 

They were to distribute alms, and to urge the people to be 

charitable ; they were also to be diligent in teaching the 

young. They were to preach every Sunday to the people, 

and always to give good examples. .Some of the old English 

sermons still remain, and are very earnest and interesting. 

At this time, though the English were under the Pope, a 

great deal was thought of studying the Bible. Although 

Alfred and his friends do not seem to have translated B .. . „ - 
e , . , . Religion of 

it, yet, very soon atter their time, translations were the peo- 

begun, some of which are still existing. One of the p e ' 

translators said in his preface that he turned it from Latin 

into English " for the edification of the simple, who only 

know this speech, that it may easier teach the heart of those 

who hear and read it." 

Some of their poetry and history is also very religious. 

This is part of a poem about King Edgar : — 

" He was widely among nations 
greatly honored; 
because he honored 
God's name zealously, 
and on God's name meditated 
oft and frequently, 
and God's praise exalted 
wide and far." 

After speaking of his faults, it adds : — 

" But may God grant him 
that his good deeds 
be more prevailing 
than his misdeeds 
for his soul's protection 
on the longsome journey." 

This is written of Edgar's death : — 

"Here ended the joys of earth, 
Edgar of Angles king; 
chose him another light 
beauteous and winsome, 
and left this frail, 
this barren life." 

This is a translation from the old English of our fathers. 
They had no rhymes, nor did they count the syllables ; the 
measure was indicated by the emphasis with which it was 



08 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

repeated. The leading words generally began with the same 
letter. This was the Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse. 

With all this religious feeling they were very superstitious. 
They shared heartily in the enthusiastic veneration then paid 
to relies. There is a list of relics which were kept 
Super- - n one church • ft i s sa [ ( | they were presented to it 
by Ethelstane the Glorious. Amongst them were a 
piece of the actual cross ; of the burning bush ; of the Vir- 
gin's dress; some of St. Paul's bones; St. Andrew's stick; 
the finger of Mary Magdalene, etc. Some time afterwards 
an abbot of Peterborough went to a very poor monastery in 
Normandy and bought the whole body of a saint, except his 
head, for £500. 

These we may call Christian superstitions; but they had 
many others, too, which had come from the old heathen 
times. Indeed, though the people were now all nominally 
Christians, they seem to have been converted in a very 
wholesale way, numbers of the common people merely fol- 
lowing the example of their kings and nobles in being bap- 
tized. If a man was baptized he was supposed to be a 
Christian ; but he probably still had some kind of belief in the 
old gods and goddesses. In the reigns of many of the kings, 
even after this time, Ave find special laws forbidding heathen- 
ism. They also thought that, by the power of witch- 
Witches. craftj health aml Ufe CQuld be affected, and that 

other mischief could be done, such as destroying cattle and 
raising storms. It was a very serious matter, as the records 
of the courts so painfully show. They believed in wizards 
and witches, who had curious ceremonies with trees and 
stones; something, perhaps, like those of the old Druids. 

The method of testing whether a person was a witch or 

not was the trial by ordeal. One way was to throw the 

reputed witch into a pond or stream, and see if 

e or ea . ^ ie ■ NVOU ] ( --[ s j u ] c or swmi- Jt -^as believed that 

if she were innocent she would sink, but if guilty she would 
float, because a body with an evil spirit in it is lighter than 
water, so that the poor creature got very little chance of 
escape either way. Another way of trying by ordeal was to 
lay nine burning-hot ploughshares on the ground, and bring 
the suspected person barefoot and blindfold to walk over 
them. If he chanced to step over them or among them 
unhurt, he Avas said to be innocent ; but if he got burned, 
then he Avas guilty. Another way Avas to carry a piece of 



DUNSTAN. 99 

hot iron in the hand, or to dip the hand in boiling water ; 
if the person was much hurt he was guilty, but if not he was 
innocent. 

A great deal was also made of lucky and unlucky days 
(perhaps this is not quite out of date cither). There were 
certain days when it would be dangerous to bleed people ; 
others when it was bad to sow seeds, or to tame animals, or to 
begin any business ; and other days when it was fortunate 
to do any of those things. " Whatever you see at the first 
appearance of the new moon will be a blessing to you." 
"If a man dreams that he hath a burning candle in his 
hand it is a sign of good." " If New Year's Day be on a 
Monday it will be a grim and confounding winter." 

It was believed for many centuries that eclipses of the 
sun and moon and the appearance of comets betokened 
great and generally dreadful events. It is hardly E j iT)ses 
correct, however, to say comets, for it was thought and 
there was only one such — "the star called Cometa," comets - 
which appeared on special occasions. Ethelwerd, who has 
been mentioned before, who belonged to the royal family, 
and was remarkably well educated for a layman, says that in 
a certain year, "after Easter, a comet appeared, which some 
think to be an omen of foul times which have already past ; 
but it is the most approved theory of philosophers that they. 
foretell future things, as has been tried in many ways."* 

The life and character of Dunstan are enveloped in doubt, 
owing to the disputes among the clergy, and to the unsettled 
state of the public records at a time when violence was the 
rule even in chambers of kings. Those who regard him as a 
saint must also recognize him as an inspired miracle-worker, 
for he made claim to the Divine guidance and aid in all his 
affairs. Certain historians dwell on the good he accom- 
plished, and they pass over in silence any accounts which 
show the lust of power, the manoeuvres of the politician, or 
the coarse tricks of the thaumaturgist. 

That Guest, in the narrow limits of an elementary history, 
might neglect to notice the well-known accusations of crime 
against Dunstan, is not surprising; but Green, author of the 
History of the English People, whom Guest follows impli- 
citly, had space enough and should not have shunned a fair 
inquiry. And Green has not even mentioned the charges 

* The remainder of this chapter (which is by the Editor) is in effect 
a supplement to the account of Guest. 



100 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

which ought to be disproved before Dunstan could have the 
respect due to the great minister of a Christian king. 

The facts, as far as they can be known, leave no doubt that 
Dunstan made his way to power by the means universally 
employed in that age, namely, fraud, chicanery, and force. 
He was versed in all the arts and sciences then known, so 
much so that he was suspected of being in league with the 
powers of the invisible world. To wrap himself still more 
in mystery he spent much of his time at one period in a 
small cave, in which he had a forge ; and on one occasion he 
gravely assured the neighbors that a frightful noise which 
had startled them during the night was caused by the howl- 
ing of the devil, whose nose he had seized with his hot tongs. 
The devil, Dunstan said, had intruded for the purpose of 
tempting him, and was therefore properly punished. 

He was the chief supporter of the Benedictine monks, and 
the strenuous advocate of the celibacy of the clergy; both 
circumstances gained him, doubtless, some enmity. 

Here is a specimen of the assumption of priestly authority 
over a king. King Edwin (A. D. 955) was married to a lady 
who was his relative, though the relation was not so near as 
is now allowed bylaw; but the marriage was regarded as 
being irregular, if not void, by the ecclesiastics, and the 
queen was stigmatized as his mistress. Toward the end of 
a feast the king rose from the table and went into his private 
apartments ; and, his absence being noticed, Dunstan and 
another priest went to induce the king to return to the revel. 
The king was unwilling to comply, and was perhaps in some 
playful dalliance with the queen. Dunstan forgot Edwin's 
rights as a man, and his dignity as a sovereign. He poured 
out his invectives against the ladies, and because the king 
would not leave his seat he pulled him from it; he forced 
the diadem on his head, and indecently dragged him to the 
riotous hall. 

This lady was not long after mutilated and killed in the 
most shocking manner by order of another bishop, Odo, 
whether by connivance of Dunstan or not is not known. 

During the troubles which followed, Edwin Avas murdered; 
and the lights, which were due almost wholly to the intrigues 
of churchmen, were conducted with the fierceness of sav- 
ages. 

In the next reign, that of Edgar (A. D. 959), Dunstan be- 
came Bishop of Worcester, then of London, and, by a deep 



DTJNSTAX. 101 

scheme, shortly after, Primate of the Anglo Saxons. Edgar 
was very young, and was wholly in the power of this astute 
prelate. Dunstan always had a heavenly vision at command 
to serve in an emergency. On one occasion he declared he 
saw his mother married to Jesus Christ. As Edgar grew 
up, though he was obedient to Dunstan, and allowed him 
full liberty to direct the religious affairs of the kingdom, he 
was stained with vices, and in the pursuit of pleasure he did 
not pause at any crime. The accounts of his behavior are 
at once shameful and cruel. But Dunstan imposed on his 
royal pupil, even for murders, only some trifling penances. 

In the reign of Edward the Martyr (A. D. 975), there was 
a synod convened at Winchester. An appeal was made to 
Dunstan upon some matter under discussion, and he was 
expected to reply. But there was a sound from a crucifix 
on the wall ; a voice issued commending the existing state 
of things, and forbidding a change. " What wish ye more?" 
exclaimed Dunstan ; " the divine voice determines the 
affair." 

Those who choose can believe that a miracle was wrought, 
but most reasoning men will conclude that Dunstan had 
played a trick with rather more than the usual cleverness. 

In the same reign there was a council of nobles and 
bishops at Calne. The king was absent on account of his 
age. While the senators of England were discussing; some 
matter vehemently, and were reproaching Dunstan, he gave 
a short reply which ended with these remarkable words: 
"I confess that I am unwilling that you should conquer. I 
commit the cause of the Church to the decision of Christ." 
At these words the floor and its beams and rafters gave way, 
and precipitated the company with the ruins to the earth 
below. The seat of Dunstan only was unmoved. Many of 
the nobles were killed on the spot; others Mere grievously 
hurt by wounds which kept them long confined. 

These relations of the acts of Dunstan have been tran- 
scribed (in a condensed form) from the " History of the 
AnLdo-Saxons," by Sharon Turner, Vol. II., pp. 204-240. 
This has been a standard Avork for nearly a century, and 
Turner is certainly an able, faithful, and impartial historian. 
The evidences of his thorough research and of his candor 
are abundant. How Green covdd afford to pass over such 
statements without refutation and without mention is hard to 
understand. 



102 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Turner, indeed, admits that the last story, that of the 
attempted wholesale murder at Calne, had been denied, and 
declared to be without any foundation; but he proceeds 
with citations from the Saxon Chronicle, from William of 
Malmesbury and other authorities which are depended upon 
for all that is known of that time. Turner does not assume 
that this awful crime was conclusively proved against Dun- 
Stan, but he considers the relation as well entitled to cre- 
dence as anything that has come down to us from that age 
of superstition and bloodshed. — Editor. 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE UNREADY. 



The sons of Edgar. The battle of Maldon. Tribute to the Danes. Massacre 
of St. Briuswend. Ethelred's flight. Normandy and the Normans. Edmund 
Ironside. 

Edgar the Peaceable was only thirty-two years old 
when he died. He left two young sons : Edward, 
by his first wife, and Ethelred, by the second. There Edward 
is very little doubt that the beautiful and wicked *e Mar " 
Elfrida caused her step-son Edward to be murdered, 
in order that her own boy, Ethelred, might be king. Edward, 
though only seventeen at the time of his death, had given 
promise of being a good ami wise king, but we cannot see 
that he was in any sense a martyr, as he was afterwards called 
by the pity of the people. 

Unfortunately for the country, the next king, for whose 
sake Edward was murdered, and who was the weakest and 
most unkingly sovereign England had ever known, _ , . , 
had a very long reign of thirty-eight years. This the Un- 
was the second Ethelred, "the noble in counsel." read y- 
His surname, very unlike the high-sounding ones of those 
who went before him, the Magnificent or the Excellent, was 
" the Unready." It is a very good and apt name even as we 
understand it; but it really meant "the uncounselled " or 
unwise — "red" meaning "counsel;" so that it was a kind 
of play upon his real name. 

He was quite a young boy, only ten years old, when he 
became king, and the troubles began almost directly. We 
hear no more now of the great fleet which used to sail round 
the island every year, in Edgar's time, to keep invaders off. 
The Danes began to land again, and ravage and plunder as 
of old. Southampton was ravaged, and Thanet-land, and 
Cheshire ; soon after, Portland and Dorsetshire. After that 
there were a few years of peace ; then they came to Somer- 
setshire, and then to Ipswich and Essex. Ethelred was by 

103 



104 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

this time a grown young man, twenty-two years old — just 
the same age that Alfred was when he fought the battle of 
Ashdune. He did not come to lead his men to fight the 
heathen robbers, but left them to fight without him. When 
the Danes came to Essex, there was a brave alderman to lead 
the English, and a splendid fight; but the alderman was 
killed, and the Danes conquered. 

This battle is described in one of the finest of our old 
English poems. In modern times we have cannon and gun- 

991 powder, and a great deal of the fighting is done 
The battle from a long distance. But at that time it was hand- 
o an. to-hand fighting, and every man's own courage and 
skill were tested. It is now judged best for the general of 
an army to be a little out of the fray, perhaps standing on 
a hill with a telescope, overlooking the whole, and sending 
his officers and aides-de-camp galloping with his orders and 
messages in all directions where it is necessary. In those 
days the armies were not nearly so large, and the generals 
of the English always fought on foot w 7 ith their men. They 
came to the field on horseback, and then dismounted. 

The alderman or earl who led the fight at Maldon was 
named Brihtnoth. His wife had his great deeds worked in 
needlework on a tapestry. The last of those deeds was this 
fight for his country, in which he was killed. He rode to the 
field on horseback, and set his army in array — " trimmed 
his warriors," as the poet calls it. He rode round and " rede 
gave," that is, gave advice how they should stand, and keep 
steady, and hold their shields firm, and " at nothing fright- 
ened be." Then he got Qff his horse, and went and stood 
" among the men that to him dearest were ; " men that had 
often feasted round his hearth, and to whom he had given 
rewards, such as they most prized : horses, and bracelets, and 
rings. Some of them were young noblemen, his own rela- 
tions; but at least one was a churl — a brave fellow, as 
brave as all the rest. The Danes, or Vikings, as they are 
sometimes called, sent a herald with a message that the earl 
and the other rich men had better make peace by sending 
to the enemy bracelets and money. If that were done the 
Danes would go back to their ships. The brave old Eng- 
lishman was very angry; he shook his spear, and he answered 
steadfastly, " Hearest thou, seafarer, what this folk sayeth? 
They will give you for money spears and sharp-edged swords. 
Go back again, messenger, to thy people, and tell them that 



THE UNREADY. 105 

here stand undaunted an earl with his band that will defend 
this our land. Nor shall ye so easily win our treasures ; 
point and edge shall judge between us first ere we money 
give." 

Then the fight began, the shouting, the rush, and the 
tumult. The author of the poem one thinks must have been 
there, it is told so vividly ; he tells, too, how the eagles and 
ravens gathered round, expecting the feast they would have 
on the dead bodies. At last the earl was wounded, but he 
still went on fighting. He killed one or two more of the 
enemies, and "then was the earl blithe; the brave man 
laughed and gave thanks to his Maker." But at length he 
could no longer hold his sword nor stand fast on his feet. 
He died as a brave and good man should. These were his 
last words, very nearly as the song gives them: "I thank 
Thee, Ruler of nations, for all the good things that in this 
world I have enjoyed. Now I own, mild Maker, that I 
most have need that Thou shouldest grant good to my spirit, 
that my soul may now make its way to Thee, may journey 
in peace to Thy kingdom, Lord of angels. I pray Thee that 
the fiends of hell may never hurt it." Then he died, and a 
great fight took place over his body. 

The Danes wanted to take his robe, his bracelets, and his 
rings, and to mangle his body. His own men were resolved 
at least to have his body. Some of them were killed ; two 
of them fled. As the poem says, "Godric from the battle 
went, and forsook the good man who had often given him 
horses." He even went so far as to leap on the earl's own 
horse and rode away on it, so that those who did not know 
thought it was the earl himself fleeing, and it was j^erhaps 
through that that the battle was finally lost. 

But these two were the only cowards. In spite of all 
their heroism the battle was lost, but the enemy could not 
carry off the body of the earl. He was buried at Ely, 
where there was a great monastery to which he had given 
many gifts, and to which his widow presented the famous 
needle-work with the story of his life. 

The description of this battle gives us an idea of the fidel- 
ity and devotion of brave men for a good lord. Though the 
Danes were victorious in this fight, it was a hard-won vic- 
tory, and they could not have won many such. From this 
time great misfortunes and disgraces befell the English on 
account of the bad leaders they had. Had their king been 



106 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

like Alfred, had their carls been like Brihtnoth, the history 
would have been very different. 

The king and his counsellors could think of no better way 

of getting rid of the enemies than by paying them. We 

saw how Brihtnoth scorned the idea of giving money 

Ethelr'ed or anything but good blows with shears and swords. 

bribes the But in this very same year we read in the "Chroni- 

Tin, ti ns * * 

cle," "It was first decreed that tribute should l>e 
paid to the Danish men on account of the great terror which 
they caused by the sea-coast; that was at first t'10,000," a 
very large sum at that time. It was easy to foresee the 
result of this plan. As soon as the Danes had spent the 
money they were sure to come back for more, and so they 
did. And thus it went on all through the CTnready'fl reign. 

Sometimes, when the Danes came, the king and the people 
attempted to resist them, but very seldom to any purpose. 
Some of the great earls turned traitors, and sided with the 
Danes, or, when a battle was beginning, would flee away with 
their followers. It must be remembered, as a reason for 
this, that some of these earls were naturalized Danes, and 
had relations among the enemy's host. Others had probably 
married Danish ladies. 

Then the king would try to make peace by paving great 
sums of money to the Danes. A few more extracts from 
the " Chronicle " will show how miserably everything was 
managed. 

" 1001. The army (that is, the Danes) went over the land 
and did as was their wont, slew and burned ; ... it was 
then in every wise sad, because they never ceased from their 
evil. 

" 1002. In this year the king and his Witan resolved that 
tribute should he paid, and peace made with them, on con- 
dition that they should cease from their evil. . . . And that 
they then accepted, and were paid £' - 24,000. 

"1000. At midwinter the people of Winchester might see 
an insolent ami fearless army, as they went by their gate to 
the sea, and fetched them food and treasures, over fifty 
miles from the sea. Then was there bo great awe of the 
(Danish) army that no one could think or devise how they 
should be driven from the country. . . . They had cruelly 
marked every shire in Wessex with burning and with harry- 
ing. The king then began with his Witan earnestly to con- 
sider what might seem most advisable to them all, so that 



the ini;i;adv. 107 

this country might be protected ere it was totally undone." 
They decided, as usual, on nothing better than paying trib- 
ute to them again. This time it was £36,000 ; another time, 
later on, £48,000. 

No fleet or army had any success. Some of the leaders 
were incapable, others treacherous. After a disaster at sea, 
in which some ships had been wrecked, the chroni- 
cler writes, "it was as if all counsel was at an England*" 
end, and the king, and the aldermen, and the high 
Witan went home, and let the toil of all the nation lightly 
perish." Another year, when they had got a force or army 
together, and the force was wanted to oppose the Danes' 
landing, " then the force went home; and when the Danes 
were east then was our force held west, and when they were 
south then was our force north. At last there was not a 
chief man left who would gather a force, but each tied as In- 
best might; nor even at last would any shire assist another. 
All these calamities befell us through evil counsels. For all 
this peace and tribute, they went everywhere in flocks and 
harried our miserable people, and robbed and slew them." 

This gives us a general picture of the reign of Ethelred; 
but there is one exception to all the cowardice and blunder- 
ing, and that was the bravery of the Londoners. 
Even at that time, nine hundred years ago, London London - 
was comparatively a large ami important city. In places 
now covered with streets and squares there were green fields 
and woods. In other parts there were wild fens and moors, 
which have given their names to Fenchurch Street, Moorgate 
Street, and Moorfields. But London, though small then to 
what it is now, was thriving ami busy. The Romans had 
given it a Latin name, "Augusta," but that dropped off, and 
the old British name of London has lasted on. King Alfred 
had rescued it from tin; Danes, and built a fort to protect it, 
where the Tower of London now stands. The Londoners 
were brave, rich, and free ; and though the Danes came 
against them again and again, they were beaten back. Lon- 
don seems to have been besieged four times during this reign. 

The heathen had now two great leaders, the king of Nor- 
way and the king of Denmark. Olaf, the king of 

Xorwav, while lie was in the British Isles, had Olaf and 
i £» • • a i • i • • i t i Swend. 

learnt Christianity. Some think it was m the Isles 

of Scilly, others in the Isles of Orkney. After one of the 

tribute-payings and truces of Ethelred he was confirmed by 



108 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

English bishops, and was received in a friendly manner by 
Ethelred, who gave him handsome presents. He then 
"promised, as he also fulfilled, that he would never come 
again with hostility to England." He went back to Nor- 
way, and spent the rest of his life, it appears, in converting 
his kingdom to his new religion, though he did this in a very 
harsh and cruel way. 

The other king, Swend or Swegen the Dane, went away 
for a time when Olaf did, but afterwards came back. We 
cannot say he came without provocation, for Ethelred had 
planned a general massacre of all the Danes in England, 
though there was now a peace between them and the" Eng- 
lish. The "Chronicle" says, "It had been made known to 
the king that they would plot against his life, and afterwards 
those of all his Witan," but we do not know how far it is 

true. It appears, however, that the king sent let 
Massacre ters secretly through the country to appoint all the 
Danes massacres to take place on the same day, and as all 

the English heartily hated the Danes, these orders 
were obeyed. Among the Danes who were killed was a 
lady, Swend's sister, Avho was in England with her husband 
and son. It is said that these two were killed before her 
eyes, and that when she was dying she prophesied that great 
woes and vengeance would come upon the English. 

The next year Swend came back again to avenge his sister 
and his countrymen, and the sacking and burning went on as 
100"? before for many years. Some time after this the 
The Danes' Danes besieged Canterbury and took it. They seized 
revenge. on ^ e arc hbishop, one of those who confirmed Olaf. 
They took him to their ships, which were lying in the 
Thames near Greenwich, and kept him prisoner there from 
about Michaelmas till the following Easter, expecting a good 

ransom would be paid for him. But on the Satur- 
Murdw'of day a f ter Easter they were "greatly excited against 
the arch- the bishop because he would not promise them any 
op ' money, but forbade that anything should be given 
for him." The " Chronicle " says the Danes were very 
drunken; they took him to Greenwich "and shamefully 
murdered him ; they pelted him with bones and the skulls 
of oxen, and one of them struck him on the head with an 
axe, so that with the dint he sank down, and his holy blood 
fell on the earth, and his holy soul he sent forth to God's 
kingdom." 



THE UNREADY. 109 

It was not Swend who took Canterbury; he was not in 
England just then ; but the next year he returned with a 
splendid fleet, and bringing with him his son Cnut (or 
Canute). His ships were beautifully adorned with figures 
of men and animals, birds and dragons, lions, bulls, and 
dolphins, in gold, silver, and amber. After some fearful 
cruelties and very little resistance from anybody except the 
Londoners, he was conqueror, and was acknowledged king of 
England. Thus at last the Danes were masters after 1013 
hundreds of years' fighting. Even London had to The Danes 
submit. The queen^Ethelred's wife, fled over the tnum P h - 
sea; then the two young princes, her sons, followed, and 
next year Ethelred himself. 

Queen Emma was the daughter of the Duke of Normandy. 
This country is part of France, but the Normans were not 
Franks, nor were they Gauls or Celts ; they were in 
fact nearly related to the English and to the Danes. T ^ a „° r " 
As the Danes, after plundering England, settled 
down and became Englishmen, so others of their race went to 
ravage France, and afterward settled down there and became 
Frenchmen. They were not called " Danes," but Northmen, 
as they were not nearly all from Denmark, but from Sweden 
and Norway also. 

As Alfred made peace with Guthorm, and let him rule as 
an underdoing in a great part of England, the king of the 
French made peace with the leader of the Northmen, and 
let him settle in a part of France, which came to be called 
Normandy, and the Northmen Normans. In time they 
became Christians, and learned to talk French, which was 
a much greater change than for those in England to learn 
to speak English. The Duke of Normandy was under 
the French king; lie was his vassal, and, though not called 
" king," he was in fact as powerful as one. 

Ethelred had married Emma, the daughter of one of 
the dukes of Normandy. When she came to England she 
received a new name, because "Emma" had a foreign sound. 
She was called by the old English name of Elfgifu (the 
fairies' gift). In their trouble she and her husband and 
children took refuge with her brother, the Duke of Nor- 
mandy, her father being dead by this time, and there the 
two young princes were educated. 

Swend had hardly been made king before he died. The 
story of his death is remarkable. The reader will remember 



110 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

St. Edmund, the under-king of East Anglia, whom the 
1014 Danes had murdered nearly a hundred and fifty 
Death 'of years before. It seems that Swend had a special 
Swend. } ia ^ rec | f or ]jj s memory, and demanded a heavy 
tribute from the church which had been built in his honor 
at Bury St. Edmund's. He threatened if it were not paid 
he would burn the church and the town, and put the clergy 
to death by torture. He had set forth on his march for this 
purpose, like Saul, "breathing out threatenings and slaugh- 
ter," when he saw in a vision the martyred Edmund coining 
against him, clothed in armor, and a spear in his hand. 
u Help," he cried, "fellow-soldiers! St. Edmund is coming 
to slay me." He fell from his horse and died the same night, 
every one believing that the saint had pierced him with his 
spear. 

When he was dead, leaving only his young son of nine- 
teen behind him, the English thought of Ethelred again, and 
sent after him to Normandy. The "Chronicle" 
Ethelred re cords the messages they exchanged. The wise 
men said that "to them no lord was dearer than 
their natural lord, if he would rule them better than he had 
done before." Ethelred, in return, sent messages to "greet 
all his people, and said that he would be to them a kind lord, 
and amend all those things which they abhorred, and all the 
things should be forgiven which had been done or said to 
him, on condition that they all, with one mind, and without 
treachery, would turn to him." So he returned home to his 
own people, and was gladly received by all. 

He seems to have redeemed his character for the time. 

There was a great meeting of the Witan, where they made 

many good resolutions; and then he inarched against young 

Canute, and drove him away for the time. Ethelred lived 

but two years after his return. He had a brave and noble 

son to help him, — not one of Emma's children, but a 

i Edm sid d son k v hi s ^ rst wife, — Edmund, who was surnamed 

Ironside because of his strength and courage. He 

was indeed a great contrast to his feeble father. 

Canute soon came back with another great fleet, and the 
war went on. Ethelred relapsed into his native con- 
1016- dition of Aveakness and irresolution. Canute gained 
great victories, and when Ethelred died the assem- 
bly of the Witan chose Canute to be king. But the Lon- 
doners held an assembly of their own, and elected Edmund 



THE UN HEADY. Ill 

Ironside. So there were two kings, an Englishman and a 
Dane ; both of them yonng, clever, brave, and neither ot 
them likely to give in to the other. During the next seven 
months London was besieged three times by the Danes, but 
never taken ; and the English and Danes had six great bat- 
tles. Four times out of these, Edmund Ironside won the 
victory ; but in the sixth, after a gallant fight, the Danes 
were victorious, and Edmund had to fiee. He was not at 
all out of heart ; he was quite ready, with a fresh army, for 
a seventh battle, when the " wise men " interposed and 
brought about a peace. 

The two young kings met. They had by this time each 
seen something to respect in the other, and both must have 
felt that it would not be easy to subdue the other. So they 
behaved with great courtesy, called each other brothers, and. 
agreed to divide the kingdom between them. Edmund had 
all England south of the Thames, East Anglia, Essex, and 
London. Canute had all the rest ; but it seems that Edmund 
was to be his " over-lord." 

This did not last, for before the year was over the brave 
Edmund, the last worthy descendant of Egbert and 101g 
Alfred, died. How he died is not exactly known. Death 'of 
Some said he was murdered ; some think he was Edmund - 
worn out by his almost superhuman exertions. But when 
he died, Canute the Dane became king of all England. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



CANUTE. 



A Danish king — his fierce beginning— his reform— his religion — pilgrimage to 
Rome — his letter — his sons. 

Canute did not wish to be considered a usurper, or one 
who had taken a kingdom to which he had no right ; nor 
did he wish only to seem a conqueror, having seized on the 
kingdom by force. There were no strict rules 
then, as there are now, as to who should succeed to 
the throne. If the king, when he died, left a brave son 
already grown up, it was almost sure he would be chosen, 
as Alfred's son Edward was ; but if he left only yonng chil- 
dren, then one of their uncles would very likely be made 
king instead. In those days, as we have seen, it was of the 
greatest importance to have a king who was a real leader 
and ruler. The king had indeed to consult his Witan or wise 
men ; but in general it seems that he made all the plans, 
proposed the laws, and laid them before the wise men to 
discuss, and approve or disapprove. 

The English were accustomed to elect their kings, and 
until the time of Swend it was a most unheard-of thing for 
a man not of the royal family, and not even an Englishman, 
to be king of England. But Canute, who had already half 
the kingdom, did not choose to take forcible possession of 
the rest. He assembled the wise men and laid his claim 
before them. There were several princes of the English 
royal family left. Edmund Ironside had left two little sons, 
but no one would be likely to wish to make one of them 
king. He had also left some brothers — one of them, Edwy 
(or Eadwig), a grown young man of high character and well 
esteemed; beside his two half-brothers, Edward and Alfred, 
who were still very young, and were being brought up in 
Normandy. Even if the wise men had wished to make 
Edwy king, they would hardly have dared to propose it, 

112* 



CANUTE. 113 

Canute being so powerful ; but perhaps they had grown tired 
of wars, and thought it best to give in. At any rate they 
passed over all these princes, ethelings, as they were called, 
and declared that Canute had a right to the whole kingdom. 

In the beginning of his reign Canute showed a very fierce 
and cruel spirit. lie was determined to be and to remain 
king of England ; and he could not be easy while so many 
of the royal family remained alive. Still he did not like to 
appear as an open murderer. He outlawed the 
grown-up prince, Edwy, and before the year was Canute's 
past he died; it was reported that Canute had him 
privately murdered. He sent Edmund Ironside's little sons 
out of the country to his own half-brother, the King of 
Sweden, in order that he might privately make away with 
them. But the Swedish king had pity on the innocent chil- 
dren, and instead of killing them sent them off to the distant 
land of Hungary, where there Avas a very good king, Ste- 
phen, who was afterwards called St. Stephen. He received 
the children kindly, and brought them up well and honor- 
ably. One died young, but the other grew up and married 
a relation of the Queen of Hungary, named Agatha, and he 
lived to see England once more. 

Canute next put to death some of the English noblemen, 
probably because he thought they would in some way en- 
danger his throne. And about the same time he sent for 
Queen Emma, the widow of Ethelred the Unready, and 
married her. She was much older than he was, but they 
say she was very beautiful. It seems that she now quite 
forsook her two sons, Edward and Alfred, who continued in 
Normandy ; and she and Canute agreed that if she had a 
son by him he should succeed to the throne of England, and 
so it afterwards was. 

But though Canute began his reign in this cruel manner, 
and might have been expected to be a very bad king, it 
turned out quite differently. Machiavelli, in his famous 
book, "The Prince," advises kings to "do all their cruelties 
at first," because then afterwards people will feel so thank- 
ful to them if they are merciful and just. Whether Canute 
had such an idea as that, or whether his character 
really improved, is not quite clear, but the latter Hereforms - 
appears most probable. He was professedly a Christian, 
and had been already baptized ; and after this terrible begin- 
ning we hear no more of cruelty in England. 



114 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

One might have expected that he would set up his Danish 
followers above the English; but, on the contrary, he fav- 
ored the English in every way. He sent almost all his ships 
and their crews back to Denmark, and he assembled the 
English Witan to consult upon the government of the coun- 
try. There were already many Danes established in Eng- 
land, who continued to live there peaceably, and both these 
Danes and the English looked back to the time when they 
had last had a good king, with peace, justice, and order, and 
longed to be governed as they had been then. This good 
king to whom they looked back was Edgar the Peaceable, 
who had been just and kind to the Danes, as well as to the 
English. Now his memory was honored, and both Danes 
and English wished to be governed by "Edgar's law.' 1 
Canute and the Avise men agreed to their desire. Canute 
was as just to the English as Edgar had been to the Danes, 
and England had peace for sixteen years. 

At this time first appeared Earl Godwine, an Englishman, 
whom Canute seems to have liked and favored, and who be- 
came in time the most powerful subject in all Eng- 
wine. p anc j > Nothing is known of his origin with any 
certainty ; but it is said that his father was a wealthy churl 
or farmer in Gloucestershire. Some time during the wars a 
Danish earl, Canute's brother-in-law, who was going to the 
Danish ships, lost his way. He met a handsome young man 
driving cattle, and asked him to guide him to the sea. The 
young man said it would be Aery dangerous, for the English 
were so enraged against the Danes, but he would do what 
he could. The Danish earl offered him a gold ring, but he 
would not accept it until he had earned it, and he said that, 
if he succeeded, the earl might reward him at his pleasure. 
He took the earl home to his father's house, which was a 
plain, comfortable dwelling, with plenty of good food and 
drink. The earl was much pleased, and stayed there the 
next day, and at night he and the young man started off on 
two good horses to find their way to the ships. After riding 
all night they arrived safely at the shore, and the earl was 
so delighted with his young guide, who was a clever and 
pleasant talker as well as good looking, that he adopted him 
almost as a son. He presented him to Canute, and in time 
he rose to great honor, and married the earl's sister. This 
young man was Godwine, who was in great trust and favor 
during the reign of Canute. 



CANUTE. 115 

Canute not only favored the English nobles at home, but 
even made the Danish people jealous by appointing English 
clergymen to be bishops in Denmark. He was king of that 
country as well as of England, and afterwards got posses- 
sion of Norway and Sweden also, but he always liked Eng- 
land best. 

He now showed himself a very zealous Christian, accord- 
ing to the ideas of those times. He built a fine church or 
minster at Assandun, the place of his sixth battle 
with Edmund Ironside, where he had won the vie- Canute's 
tory. He was also very anxious to appease the 
saints and martyrs whom his people had killed. One of 
these was St. Edmund, who was snpposed to have caused 
the death of Swend, Canute's father. Canute, no doubt, 
fully believed that tale ; so he repaired the minster of Bury 
St. Edmund, which his father had been about to destroy; 
and he also restored and enriched another in honor of St. 
Benedict. He also paid great honor to St. Elfheah, or Al- 
phege, that Archbishop of Canterbury whom the Danes 
killed at Greenwich. He had been buried at St. Paul's in 
London ; but now his body was carried with great cere- 
mony baek to the mother-church at Canterbury. The 
"Chronicle" says, "The renowned king, and the archbishop, 
and the suffragan bishops, and earls, and very many men in 
orders, and also laymen, conveyed in a ship his holy bodv on 
the Thames to Southwark ; . . . and they then, with an hon- 
orable band and winsome joy, conveyed him to Rochester. 
Then, on the third day, came Emma, the lady, with her 
royal child, Harthacanute, and they then all, with great 
magnificence, and bliss, and song of praise, conveyed the 
holy archbishop into Canterbury." 

Canute also went to do honor to the grave of Edmund 
Ironside. He had been buried at Glastonbury, where the 
first little Christian church had been built by the Britons, 
and where Dunstan had afterwards raised a much finer one. 
We are told that Canute knelt and prayed beside Edmund's 
tomb, and covered it with a splendid robe embroidered with 
peacocks. It would have been more to the purpose had he 
shown kindness to Edmund's little sons, but they were safe 
in Hungary at the time. 

Canute, like Alfred, was fond of hearing church music. 
It is said that one of his favorite monasteries was Ely, where 
Alderman Brihtnoth was buried, and that one day, as he 



116 GUEST*.S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was going past it in a boat, he heard the monks singing, and 
was so pleased that he made a poem about it. This is a 
translation of the first verse : — 

" Merrily sang the monks of Ely 
As Canute the king was passing by. 
'Row to the shore, men,' said the king, 
'And let us hear these churchmen sing.' " 

"We cannot sny this is very beautiful poetry, but it ap- 
pears to have been much liked at the time, for it is reported 
that it was afterwards sung in churches as a hymn.* The 
story of Canute and his flatterers by the seaside has been too 
often repeated ; but there is another which, if true, shows 
that while he liked admiration lie was a grim humorist as 
well. A poet, or minstrel, had made a short poem about 
the king, and went to sing or repeat it to him. He 
found the king just finishing dinner — the time when a 
gleeman would be most welcome. But he had around him 
a crowd of his subjects, who were come to make complaints 
and ask for justice. The king listened very patiently to 
them all. The poet at last grew tired of waiting, and 
begged the king to listen to his song, which was but a short 
one. Upon that the king turned to him very angrily, say- 
ing, "Are you not ashamed to do what no one else has dared 
to do — to write a short poem about me? Unless by dinner 
to-morrow you produce a poem with above thirty verses in 
it about me, your head shall be the penalty." Away went 
the poet, and the next day he appeared before the king with 
his poem of the required length, for which he was rewarded 
with fifty pieces of silver. 

Canute, having settled his kingdom and made England 

peaceable and contented, and having honored the memory 

of the English martyrs, made a pilgrimage to Rome. 

, ** is This was the crowning act of religion in the 
middle ages, and it was attended with difficulty 
and danger. While he was there he wrote an interesting 
letter, which was addressed to the archbishops, bishops, 
nobles, and all the people. In it he said that he went for 
the redemption of his sins, and for the good of his people. 
He saw at Rome not only the Pope, but also the great Ger- 

*The literary effort of monarchs are sometimes effusively praised 
even in our day. 



CANUTE. 117 

man emperor, and many other princes. He said that they 
all treated him with great honor, and that the emperor gave 
him many costly presents of gold and silver vessels, and 
splendid garments. He spoke to the emperor and others 
about the trouble his subjects had in getting to Rome on 
account of the fortified places, held by the robber barons, 
and the unjust tolls and exactions, and they promised that 
the English and Danish merchants and pilgrims should be 
allowed to come and go in peace and safety. 

He had also complained to the Pope of the immense sums 
of money which were extorted from the archbishops, and 
the Pope had promised that it should not happen again. 
He w r ent on to say what good resolutions he had made as to 
his future life, and owned that he had done many wrong 
things, but said he would endeavor "by God's help entirely 
to amend it." He said that he had vowed to Almighty God 
to govern his life rightly, to rule justly and piously, and that 
no one, whether rich or poor, should be oppressed or ill-used. 
Altogether, this letter is so good, so hearty, and so sensible, 
that the Witan must have considered they never did a wiser 
thing than when they made Canute king, even though he 
was not an Englishman. 

Happy is the reign that has no history! There is not much 
more to tell about Canute. The farmers ploughed their lands 
and reaped their harvests without fear of being plundered. 
The merchants minded their business and made their profits, 
instead of being besieged and robbed. Every one enjoyed 
the fruit of his labors ; they married and were given in mar- 
riage ; they were safe, happy, and contented ; and so the 
years passed away, and the men who Avrote the "Chronicle" 
could find very little to say, except when a bishop or an 
abbot died, and a new one had to be appointed. 

Canute went to Scotland, and made its king do homage 
to him and own him as his lord, just as the former kings 
had done to Edward and to Edgar. This king of 
Scotland was uncle to Duncan. And he brought Macbeth - 
with him two other great lords, or under-princes, one of 
whom was Macbeth ; the Macbeth of whom Shakespeare 
wrote, and who murdered Duncan. 

Like almost all the kings of this time, Canute had a very 
short life. He died when he was but forty years , nQC 

111- 1 1 1 • I T. • lOtJfl. 

old, leaving two very unworthy sons behind him, Canute's 
who were both kings of England for a short time. death - 



118 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

The first was called Harold, and his surname was Harefoot, 
because he Avas a swift runner. When he became king it 
seems that the two princes in Normandy, the sons 
Harold f Ethelred and Emma, began to think they might 
have a chance of getting back their father's king- 
dom. The younger of them, Alfred, went over to England, 
where his mother was. But he was seized with all his fol- 
lowers and most cruelly used ; he was blinded, and after- 
wards killed ; and the wt Chronicle " says — 

"Now is our trust in 
the beloved God, 
that they are in bliss, 
blithely with Christ, 
who were without guilt 
so miserably slain." 

Harold Harefoot was very irreligious, and he took pleasure 
in insulting the services of the church. He would call out 
his huntsmen and his dogs with great noise and bustle, and 
ride off hunting just at the moment when people were going 
to church. After reigning about four years, he died. 

Upon this his half-brother Harthacnut, generally called 
Hardicanute, was chosen king. He was the son of Canute 

1f)40 and of Emma, and was at this time in Flanders 
Hartha- with his mother, but he had been born and bred in 

emit. England. The people therefore hoped that he 
would be a good king like his father, but it turned out that 
he was worse even than Harold. This is the account the 
"Chronicle" gives of him. "Then was Harthacnut sent 
after at Bruges; it was imagined to be well done. And he 
then came hither with sixty ships before midsummer, and 
imposed a very heavy contribution, so that it was borne with 
difficulty ; • • • and then was everyone unfavorable to him 
who before had desired him; nor did he perform aught 
kingly while he reigned. He caused the dead Harold to be 
dragged up, and had him cast into a fen." But the Danes 
afterwards took the body of Harold and laid it in a burying- 
ground they had, where now stands the church of St. 
Clement Danes. 

Harthacnut exasperated the people greatly by laying on 
them a heavy tax, called the Danegeld. This tax had been 
first levied by Ethelred the Unready, to pay his tribute to 
the Danes, and perhaps it was for that reason that it was 
always looked on as hateful. Some of the people rebelled 



CANCTE. 119 

and would not pay it. Then Harthacnut sent his soldiers to 
ravage the land and kill the people, and so made himself 
still more detested than before. 

The chief thing to be said in his favor is, that he seerns to 
have had some natural affection for his half-brothers, the 
two princes who had been brought up in Normandy. lie 
was very angry at the cruel murder of Alfred, and accused 
Earl Godwine of having a hand in it. Godwine solemnly 
swore that he was innocent, and a great many other lords 
swore it too ; but to this day no one knows whether he was 
innocent or guilty. To pacify the king, he made him a 
splendid present. He gave Harthacnut a magnificent ship, 
with eighty men on board, all beautifully dressed, with fine 
weapons, and with golden bracelets on their arms. This 
royal gift so pleased the king that he accepted Godwine's 
oath. 

He then invited his other brother, Edward, to come over 
to England and live with him, which he did. After Har- 
thacnut had reigned about two years, he went to a marriage 
feast of one of his great lords. "And as he stood at his 
drink he fell suddenly to the earth with a terrible struggle, 
and then they who were nigh took hold of him, and he after- 
wards spoke not a word." An inglorious and disgraceful 
death, after an inglorious and disgraceful reign. 



CHAPTER XIV. 



TIIE CONFESSOR. 



Edward the Confessor. The Normans and the English. The English party and 
Earl Godwine. Godwine's banishment and return. Harold. Westminster 
Abbey. 

Once more a descendant of Cerdic and of Egbert sat on 
the throne of England. Harold and Harthacnut had left no 

1042 children, and Harthacnut had evidently intended 
Edward'the Ids brother Edward to be king after his own death, 
Confessor. wnen } ie invited him to come back from Normandy 
and live with him. So all the people made Edward king; and 
he was the last king of that old royal family which had 
reigned so gloriously, on the whole, through those hundreds 
of years. 

The people, no doubt, thought they had an English king 
again ; but this was not so. Though Edward was half an 
Englishman by birth, he was, in fact, much more a French- 
man. [Henceforth the words Norman and French may be 
used interchangeably; for the old histories generally call 
the Normans Frenchmen, and, indeed, they had become so in 
fact.] Edward had a French mother, had been taken to 
Normandy wdien he was a child, and had lived there with his 
uncle and cousin until maturity, so that he was far more like 
a Frenchman than an Englishman. 

There was a great difference between the Normans and 

the English, though they were such near neighbors and were 

im. u lv. descended from kindred races. Our information 
Tnetnglisn -i i r •. t tttmv ? 

and the comes largely from a writer named William or 

Normans. Malmesbury, who had good knowledge of the sub- 
ject, since his father was a Norman and his mother an Eng- 
lishwoman; and he was anxious to do justice to both sides, 
though, on the whole, he seems to have preferred his father's 
race. 

The Normans were at this time in some respects more 
civilized than the English. They had more polished man- 

120 



THE CONFESSOR. 121 

ners, and were more gay and lively. Frenchmen are still 
considered more polite and affable than the English, who are 
looked on, whether justly or unjustly, as blunt and clumsy 
in comparison. The Normans were skilful architects, and 
had built many beautiful churches and minsters far superior 
to those of England. They had noble and splendid houses, 
in which they lived temperately and frugally; "they were 
delicate in their food, but not excessive;" while the English 
lived in " mean and despicable houses," and were overfond 
of eating and drinking. It had long been the habit, on fes- 
tive occasions, to begin dining early in the morning, and to 
continue revelling all day; but manners had even grown 
worse, for the brutal King Ilarthacnut, who, as we saw, died 
drinking, had introduced the custom of having four great 
meals every day; and they would sometimes pass entire 
nights in drinking. 

It seems too that the English, including the clergy, had 
again fallen into a state of ignorance, so that " they could 
scarcely stammer out the words of the sacrament, and a 
person who understood grammar was an object of wonder 
and astonishment. The nobility, given up to luxury and 
wantonness, went not to church in the morning after the 
manner of Christians, but merely in a careless manner heard 
matins and masses from a hurrying priest in their chambers." 

The same writer mentions the degrading slave-trade which 
was still carried on in England, and which struck him with 
horror. After writing of this drunkenness and ignorance he 
added, " I would not, however, have these bad propensities 
universally ascribed to the English. I know that many of 
the clergy at that day trod the path of sanctity by a blame- 
less life; I know that many of the laity of all ranks and con- 
ditions in this nation were well-pleasing to God. Be injustice 
far from this account ; the accusation does not involve the 
whole indiscriminate] v." 

Edward very naturally preferred the people he was used 
to, though when he became king of England he ought to 
have set himself to understand and love his whole Ed . 
people, as Canute had done. He was a good man, favors the 
and in some ways a good king, but he could not Normans - 
help showing a great partiality to the French, which led to 
much trouble in his days, and to still more afterward. A 
great number of Frenchmen came over, and Edward gave 
them offices and estates, so that they grew rich at the expense 



122 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

of the English. Above all, he promoted the French clergy, 
and set them over the English. He made a Frenchman 
Bishop of London, and another Bishop of Dorchester. We 
can imagine how offensive this would he to the English. 
It appears, too, that this Bishop of Dorchester, though a 
Frenchman, must have been quite as ignorant as an English- 
man, for when he went to Borne the Pope was very near 
depriving him of his bishopric, or, as the "Chronicle" puts 
it, "•they were very near breaking his staff, if he had not 
given the greater treasures, because he could not do his offices 
[that is, read the prayers, etc.] as well as he should." After 
that the king made a Frenchman Archbishop of Canterbury, 
and as he who holds that office is considered the highest 
person in the whole kingdom next to the king, this was also 
a great insult to the English. 

Nevertheless, on the whole, Edward was much beloved. 
He was of a gentle and pious nature; not shrewd or able, 
„. . but meek and good. He seems, too, to have been 
and good- gooddooking, and he had pleasant, polished man- 
ness> ners, which he had learnt in France. The " Chroni- 

cle" says that though he had dwelt so long in exile, "he was 
aye blithe of mood." He pleased the people greatly by 
taking off a heavy tax which had oppressed them very much. 
The tale is, that one year, when it had just been collected, 
the king was brought to see the masses of gold. He was so 
struck with the sight, and with the thought of the misery it 
must cause the people to have so much money wrung out 
of them, that he fancied he saw an exulting little devil 
jumping about upon the casks. This story, with others, 
was afterwards carved in stone, as a decoration for his chapel 
in Westminster Abbey, where they may still be seen, though 
so worn away with age that they are not very easy to under- 
stand. Edward was surnamed by his people the " Confes- 
sor," which meant in those days almost the same as a saint. 
They thought him so nearly a saint that it was believed he 
could work miracles, and had the gift of prophecy. His 
principal miracle was healing scrofula by his touch, or by the 
patient being bathed with the water in which the king had 
washed his hands. 

It has been mentioned that the king was believed to have 
been descended from the god "Woden, and that there was a 
sacredness in him, which made him different from other men. 
After Woden came to be regarded as only a man this par- 



THE CONFESSCE. 123 

ticular sanctity was lost, but the people could not give up 
the idea of something supernatural belonging to their king, 
and they now looked upon him as being more holy than all 
others, through the consecration and anointing he received 
at his coronation, — and this feeling continued through many 
centuries. Long afterwards, Shakespeare makes a king 
say,— 

" Not all the water in the rough, rude sea 

Can wash the balm off from an anointed king; 

The breath of worldly men cannot depose 

The deputy elected by the Lord." 

From Edward's time onward it was supposed that the kings 
or queens of England still possessed this miraculous power. 
The last time we hear of it being tried was in Scotland, in 
1745. 

In the play of Macbeth we find mention made of a " holy 
king" of England, and his power of curing this disease. 
The "holy king" is Edward the Confessor. It was during 
his reign that Duncan, king of Scotland, was killed, and 
Macbeth made king; and that the great Earl of Northum- 
berland afterwards fought Macbeth and set Duncan's son 
Malcolm on the throne of Scotland. It is well known that 
the facts of history are not followed in the immortal play. 

Though the English reverenced their king, they were not 
at all in accord with the French. "William of Malmesbury, 
who Avrote the history of this period, says he found 
it very difficult to get at the truth about their dis- between 8 
agreements " on account of the natural dislike of English and 
these nations for each other — because the English 
disdainfully bear with a superior, and the Normans cannot 
endure an equal." 

The head of the English party was Earl Godwine, whom 
Canute had made earl and governor of Wessex. By this 
time he was still more powerful, and it was greatly through 
his help and influence that Edward had been chosen king. 
His sons were now grown up, and they were made earls also 
and had a great deal of power. The eldest was Earl of 
Herefordshire and Somersetshire ; the second, Harold, was 
Earl of the East Angles, of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, 
Huntingdon, and Essex. Edward was married to Godwine's 
daughter Edith. But, nevertheless, he seems to have hated 
Godwine ; and he never loved Edith, though she was clever, 
good, and beautiful. We know that a weak man often hates 



12J guest's f.nui.ish history. 

the strong man who towers over him; and probably God- 
wine did not show much respect to the king whom he had 

helped to make. He was an able and determined man, and 
some of his children were the same. It was thought by 
many that they treated Edward with great disrespect, and 
ridiculed his simplicity. Edward also, it appears, never 
ceased to believe that Godwine had had some hand in the 
murder of his brother Alfred. 

Tiu' king and the great earl were on very had terms. 
Godwine and his sons were indignant at seeing so many 
foreigners favored and promoted, and they gathered a strong 
party of Englishmen, who sided with them. One might be 
sure, in this state of things, a lire would soon break out; 
any spark would he enough to kindle it. And very soon 
the spark fell. One of the king's French friends with his 
men behaved insolently to the people of Dover, and when 
the Dover men. resented it. a tumult, or rather a battle, took 
place, in which several men on each side were killed, hut 
the French were driven out o( the town. Edward, taking- 
part with his friends, commanded Karl Godwine, under 
whose government the town of Dover lay, to punish the 
Dover men. But Godwine stoutly refused to do that until 
they had heen fairly tried. Then, both sides being much 
irritated, the king and his friends gathered an army, and 
Godwine and his sons did the same. But no fight took 
place, for, when the two armies met, Godwine's men dropped 
away from him, and he and his sons were declared outlaws, 
and banished from the kingdom. 

It seems strange that the people fell away from Godwine 

when he was standing up for English liberty and 

Banish- justice, hut there may have heen two reasons for 

Godwine ll ' one > tM:lt tac . v lv:l ". v loved the king; and the 
and his other, that Godwine's eldest son had heen a wieked 
sons ' man, a treacherous murderer, and yet his father had 
favored him and shielded him from punishment. 

Not content with the banishment of Godwine, the king 
sent away his own wife, Edith, also to a monastery, and 
took possession of all her treasures, her lands, her gold, and 
her silver, which was scarcely in the role of a saint. 

While Godwine and his sons were in exile, Edward re- 
eeived a visit from a very important person, to whom he 
was much attached, his cousin, the Duke of Normandy — a 
person who had more influence on the history of England 



THE CONTESSOR. 12"> 

than, perhaps, any other man in the world. This cousin of 
Edward's, who was now about twenty-three years old, was 
no other than William the Conqueror. It was perhaps at 
this time he began to think he should like to be king of 
England. When he saw the beautiful country, with its 
thriving towns, its rich meadows and fertile fields, its indus- 
trious people, he must have felt it would be a fine tiling to 
be its lord. William was one of those strong men who, 
when they once set their mind on a thing, generally end by 
getting it. However, for this time, after being very well 
received, he went peaceably home again. It was said, after- 
wards, that during this visit Edward promised to make Wil- 
liam his heir, but the truth of that was never known. 

Godwine and his sons were sure not to remain long in 
banishment. The very next year they came back again. 
This time large numbers of the English took their 1052 
side ; they collected a great fleet and army and GodwinVs 
sailed up to London. The king also collected a return - 
fleet and an army; and there the two hosts of Englishmen 
stood face to face. The chronicler says, "It was repugnant 
to almost all of them that they should fight against men of 
their own race; for there was little else there who could do 
anything great, except Englishmen, on each side; and they 
would not that this country should be the more exposed to 
outlandish peoples, in consequence of their destroying each 
other. They then resolved that wise men should be sent 
between them, and they settled a peace on each side." 

This peace gave a complete triumph to Earl Godwine. 
"To Godwine was his earldom clean given back, as full and 
free as he first possessed it; and in like manner to 
his sons all that they had before possessed, and to His £ ri - 
his wife and daughter, all as full and as free as they UmP 
had before possessed. And they confirmed between them 
full friendship; and to all the people they promised good 
law. And they then outlawed all the Frenchmen who had 
before raised up unjust law, and judged unjust judgments, 
and counselled evil counsel in this country." 

Whereupon the bishops and the archbishop, and the 
Frenchmen in general, took flight. They went off on horse- 
back, and "slew and maltreated many young men" by the 
way. When they got to Walton-on-tlie-Xaze "they there 
lighted on a crazy ship, and the archbishop betook himself 
at once oyer the sea, and left his pall and all Christianity 



12<> guest's englisb history. 

here in this country, so as God willed it ; as he had before 
obtained the dignity, so as God willed it not." 

Godwine did not long enjoy his restored power and dig- 
nity, for in the following year he died. It was said that, as 
he sat at the Easter feast with the king, Edward 
H 1( d 53 th l )1 ' ou 8'^ t U P a g am the old accusation about God- 
wine having helped in the murder of the Ethel ing, 
Alfred ; and that Godwine, calling upon God to bear witness 
to his innocence, exclaimed, "May this morsel of bread be 
my last if I had any hand in that deed ; " and that, having 
said thus, the morsel of bread choked him, so that he fell 
down and died. There is no evidence that this tale is true, 
but it is certain that he fell down (very likely in a fit) at 
Edward's table. 

After Godwine's death his second son, Harold, became 

the most powerful man in England. He seems to have been 

of a finer nature than his father, and less overbearing, though 

quite as brave and talented. The king trusted him greatly, 

though he was fonder of his younger brother, Tos- 

Harold. ^ w j 1Q wag not near jy so good a man. Harold 

was a valiant soldier and a skilful commander, and he gained 
great renown by fighting for the king in Wales. The 
Welsh, though they had long been under the English kings, 
and paid them tribute, had never heartily submitted, and 
they now began to rebel again under a king called Griffith. 
Harold led an army into Wales and conquered them, killed 
Griffith, and brought his head to London. 

But soon after this a great misfortune befell him. He was 
at sea, near the coast of France, when his vessel was wrecked 
and tossed on the shore, in the dominions of a certain Count 
Guy, who was a vassal of the Duke of Normandy. It was 
the custom in those days, if any one had the misfortune to 
be shipwrecked on a strange coast, that, instead of being 
kindly treated and helped, he was taken prisoner, and made to 
pay a ransom before he was allowed to depart. Accord- 
ingly, Harold was made prisoner by Guy ; but he contrived 
to send word to the Duke of Normandy how he Mas being 
treated. 

The history of the later years of Edward the Confessor, 
of Harold, and of the Norman William, was represented in 
a series of pictures in needlework which are still preserved 
at Bayeux, in Normandy, and formerly ornamented the 
cathedral there, of which William's brother was the bishop. 



THE CONFESSOR. 127 

An exact cojjy of them is to be seen in the Kensington 
Museum. 

Though these pictures are particularly ugly and uncouth, 
they are very interesting as visible and authentic history. 
Besides, the adventures of Harold and the others give us in- 
formation about the ships, architecture, and costumes of the 
period. 

The Duke of Normandy had determined that he would be 
king of England when his cousin Edward died, but he felt 
that Harold stood much in the way. The English loved 
him ; and if they could not get a king of their own royal 
family, they would be far more likely to choose the Eng- 
lish Harold than the French "William. William, therefore, 
determined to try and gain Harold over to his side. He 
sent for him from Count Guy, brought him to his court, and 
treated him with great outward kindness and respect, but 
would not let him go away until he had taken a 
very unfair advantage of him ; for he made Harold, H !!: r, 2L d ' s 
who was really his prisoner, take an oath that, 
when Edward died, he would do all in his power to help 
make William king. More than this, he even cheated Har- 
old in the ceremony of taking the oath. 

When Harold was compelled to swear that he would help 
to make William king of England, there was a book of the 
Gospels set on a sort of altar, covered with a cloth of gold. 
Duke William was sitting on his throne, crowned, and with 
a rich sword in. his hand. Around him stood his nobles, 
bishops, and knights as witnesses. Harold laid his hand on 
the book, and very unwillingly swore. As soon as he had 
taken the oath, some of the attendants lifted uj) the cloth of 
gold, and underneath was seen, not an altar, or a table, but 
a box or chest filled with relics and bones of saints. Harold 
was struck with dismay, and shuddered. He and all around 
thought the oath far more awful and sacred than it would 
have been if his hand had merely rested on the New Testa- 
ment ; such was the reverence for relics. After this Harold 
was allowed to return to England. 

He grew more and more in the favor of the people. His 
brother Tostig, Edward's favorite, had been made Earl of 
Northumberland. Though the gentle Edward was 
so attached to him, Tostig was at heart a fierce T 06 t f - 
and tyrannical man, and the people of Northumber- 
land, who were a turbulent and warlike race, would not put 



128 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

up with him. They broke out in rebellion, and King Ed- 
ward sent Harold to the north to settle matters, hoping that 
Tostig would be re-established in his dominion. But when 
Harold found that his brother had ruled cruelly and un- 
justly, and that the Northumbrians were resolved not to 
have him, and had even chosen another earl, he would not 
go to war for the sake of his brother; he allowed the North- 
umbrians to keep the earl whom they had chosen, and Tos- 
tig had to flee over the sea. The people saw that Harold 
had their good at heart more than the greatness of his own 
family, and they honored and trusted him more than ever. 

Edward's end was now drawing near. He was growing- 
old, and there was one thing he longed to see completed 
West- before he died, one great work on which his heart 
minster was set, — which was the building of Westminster 
Abbey. Abbey. Though Westminster is now part of Lon- 
don, and we cannot tell when we pass from one into the 
other, in Edward's clay it was at some little distance, and, 
besides, it was an island. There were then, besides the river 
Thames, a great number of streams running down from the 
hills around London, which are now buried under the 
streets. There had been a little old church upon this island, 
Which, being covered with thickets and thorns, was called 
" Thorney Isle." 

Here Edward, who had been used to see much grander 
buildings in Normandy than the English knew how to make, 
determined that he would build the finest church that had 
ever been seen in England, and he also built himself a 
palace, where he might watch the work going on. The 
place where it stood is still called "Old Palace Yard." This 
new grand church, which was dedicated to St. Peter, was 
called the West Minster; the principal church in London 
itself was dedicated to St. Paul. 

There is very little of Edward's grand abbey left now; 
but a few foundations of pillars, and perhaps a dark arch- 
way or two, are still there. And the present Westminster 
Abbey, which has been called " the most lovely and lovable 
thing' in Christendom," is on the same spot; and there may 
still be seen the "shrine" or tomb of Edward the Confessor, 
the first of all the good or great or famous Englishmen who 
lie buried there. To see the minster finished and conse- 
crated was his heart's desire. 

There was still one more thing to do, namely to appoint 



THE CONFESSOR. 120 

his successor. lie had no children ; all the old royal family 
were dead except that son of Edmund Ironside who had 
been sent long - ago to Hungary, and his children. Edward, 
perhaps, meant to make him king after his own death, for he 
sent for him, and had him and his three children brought to 
England, just as he himself had been sent for by Harthacnut. 
Prince Edward arrived with his son, Edgar the Etheling, 
and his two daughters, but he died almost directly after 
reaching England. His son Edgar was a very weak, almost 
imbecile young man. Had he been like his grandfather, 
Edmund Ironside, it is probable that the course of English 
history would have been different. But this feeble, harm- 
less fellow was not fit to be king in troublous times, and 
it was evident that the struggle for the throne would be 
between William and Harold, two strong and vig- 1065 
orous men. William always maintained that his Death of 
cousin had promised the kingdom to him, but it is Edward - 
certain that as Edward lay dying he said Harold was to be 
his heir. 

It was Christmas time at Westminster, and the beautiful 
church was finished, ready to be consecrated. Edward 
longed to have strength for that great and joyful day. It 
was fixed for December 28th, the Feast of the Innocents. 
But he was too ill and weak to be present, the queen* had 
to take his place at the ceremony, and he only went into the 
church when he was carried there to be buried. 

They tell us that when he was dying he said he " hoped 
he was passing from the land of the dead to the land of the 
living;" and the "Chronicle" says, " St. Peter, his friend, 
opened to him the gate of Paradise, and St. John, his own 
dear one, led him before the Divine Majesty." 

* It does not appear when the queen was set at liberty, but the king 
was never on pleasant terms with her. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE CONQUEST. 

Election of Harold. Battle of Stamford Bridge. Battle of Hastings. Corona- 
tion of William tbe Conqueror. His character. Effects of the Norman 
Conquest — on the English character — on the English language. 

It was evident that there would be a great contest for the 
crown at the death of Edward the Confessor. But in tha 
1065 minds of the English there was no doubt at all. 
King Har- Harold was elected on the very day Edward died. 
The next day, January <i, Edward was buried and 
Harold crowned in the new abbey at Westminster. No one 
thought of choosing the Etheling, Edgar, who was the only 
man left of the old royal family, but who was young and 
weak, and plainly unfit to govern. 

Some historians call Harold a usurper, because he was not 
of the royal house; but being an Englishman, and chosen 
by the English people, he was, according to the usage of the 
time, as true a king as ever reigned. 

He had already been king, in all but the name, through 
the last years of Edward the Confessor, and all the people 
knew him to be wise, just, brave, and merciful. He had, 
however, but little time to show his noble qualities, and his 
short reign was full of troubles. 

It was not likely that William of Normandy, the proud, 

ambitious, and strong-willed man, would give up the great 

wish of his life without a struggle. It is said that 

. T P,^ e when he first heard the news of Harold being made 
William, i-i . »» tt i 

king he was " speechless with rage. However, he 

did not choose to show his fury at once ; indeed, it would 

have suited him far better to come in peaceably than to have 

to fight for the kingdom. He accordingly began by sending 

messages to Harold, reminding him of the oath he had sworn, 

and summoning him to give up the kingdom to him who was 

Edward's heir. Harold must have bitterly lamented the 

130 



THE CONQUEST. 131 

false step he had taken in swearing an oath which he never 
meant to keep. 

He sent back a straightforward message to the duke, that 
that oath had been extorted from him by fear of violence, 
and therefore was not binding; he also said very truly that 
he had had no right to make any oath or promise about the 
kingdom, which it had never been in his power to give away 
without the consent of the people and of the wise men, and 
that a rash' oath ought to be broken. And he ended by 
saying proudly that all the English people had heartily 
joined in giving the kingdom to him, and that he would not 
show himself so unworthy of their favor as to resign it, or 
to cease protecting them from foreign enemies ; and, in short, 
that he would not give up the kingdom unless he gave with 
it his life. 

William began forthwith to make preparations for seizing 
the crown of England by force, since he could not get it 
without. He made friends among the princes and poten- 
tates of the Continent, so as to get aid from their soldiers. 
But the principal ally he tried to secure was the Pope. 

We may well wonder what concern the Bishop of Rome 
could have in the succession to the English throne. Hither- 
to the Popes had taken but little interest in English 
affairs, beyond giving the pall to the archbishops, ThePo P e - 
and getting all the money they could from them, and from 
the country in general. But now that they were determined 
to have a voice in the governing of every kingdom, the Pope 
would be glad of an opportunity like this to have something 
to say as to who should be king. 

Of course Harold and the English never thought of ask- 
ing the Pope's opinion, still less his permission ; they settled 
things in the old English way. Therefore there was no 
doubt the Pope would favor the Frenchman. He pro- 
nounced Harold accursed and excommunicated, and he sent 
William a consecrated banner and a hair of St. Peter. It 
was not till afterwards that he made known what he ex- 
pected in return. 

Meanwhile William went on with his preparations, collect- 
ing a great army, increasing the pay of his soldiers, and 
making lavish promises to all. But with all his army, his 
ships, and his strong will, — even with the Pope's banner 
and St. Peter's hair, he would hardly have prevailed against 
Harold and his Englishmen had it not been for au English 



132 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

traitor who turned against his country and joined with her 
enemies. This was no other than Tostig, Harold's 

tig. brother, who had been driven out of Northumber- 
land for his injustice and cruelty, and whom Harold had 
refused to support. 

Tostig had taken refuge in Norway, and made friends 
with the king of that country, and the two now joined in 
invading the northern part of England, where they defeated 
the troops who opposed them and laid siege to York. 
Harold therefore, instead of watching the coast to prevent 
the Normans from landing, was obliged to march to the 
north to drive these invaders away. He tried at first to 
make peace with his brother, promising him forgiveness 
and rewards if he would submit. 

But when Tostig asked what he would give to his friend, 
the king of Norway, Harold's messenger replied "Seven 
Battle of f^t °f English ground for a grave ; or, perhaps, as 
Stamford he is a tall man, a little more." After this defiance 
Bridge. there was no more thought of peace. A great 
battle was fought, and Harold conquered. Not only the 
tall Norwegian king, but Tostig also, and many other chief- 
tains were left dead on the field, and occupied their "seven 
feet of English ground." 

While Harold and his men were still rejoicing at their 
triumph, there came news that the Normans had landed in 
the south and were ravaging the country. Harold had to 
hurry back, and to collect another army. But even now 
not all the English came. Two of the great earls, Edwin 
and Morcar, stayed away, jealous of Harold, as their father, 
who had been Earl of Mercia, had been jealous of Harold's 
father, Godwine. They seem to have thought, and even 
hoped, that England might now fall in pieces again, and be 
divided into separate kingdoms, as it had been in old times, 
and that, perhaps, if William conquered Wessex and the 
south, they might be kings of Mercia and Northumberland. 
This was, no doubt, another reason why the English were 
overcome. 

A long and obstinate battle took place. From sunrise 
till moonrise the English stood firm around their brave king, 
B ttl f Avm> fright on f°°t with his two faithful brothers 
Hastings, by his side. The English and the English battle- 
orSenlac. axes were strong, but the Normans, with their fine 
horses and skilful bowmen, were stronger. Harold was 



THE CONQUEST. 133 

blinded by an arrow, but his men stood firmly by him still. 
At last he fell dead; his brothers had fallen already; and 
the English broke and fled. 

Duke William became "William the Conqueror." This 
terrible fight is generally known as the Battle of 
Hastings, though it really took place on a hill then 
named Senlac, but which has ever since that day been called 
"Battle." And a fine abbey was built there by William 
in remembrance of his victory, the high altar of which was 
on the very spot where Harold had stood all day and had 
died so bravely in the evening. 

After the issue of this battle William had but little diffi- 
culty. There was for some time disorder and revolt in 
many places, but as there was no concert of action the Eng- 
lish were conquered little by little. There was no great 
leader who could have united them. Harold was dead, and 
his two brothers ; no one was left but poor Edgar 
the Etheling. The London people and the two ^^{^ 
earls who had deserted Harold tried to make Edgar 
king. But he had none of the qualities of which a king is 
made. 

William marched along the coast to Dover, where the in- 
habitants submitted; then he marched up the Thames to 
London ; and the capital, with the poor sham King Edgar, 
submitted too without striking a blow. Edgar himself, with 
the archbishop ami many bishops and nobles, came out to 
meet the Duke of Normandy, and offered him the crown. 
The "Chronicle" says that " they swore oaths to him, and 
he promised them that he would be a kind lord to them." 

William entered London, and on Christinas Day, not quite 

a year after Edward's church Avas consecrated, was crowned 

in it king of England. The coronation ceremony was not a 

joyful one, as we may suppose; but still William 

wished it to seem as if he were freely chosen. The JiV e „ c i iro " 
. . . . „ _ J, . ,. , nation. 

great church was full, partly of English, and partly 
of French people. On one side of William stood an English 
archbishop, on the other side a French bishop. The one 
spoke in English, and asked the people if they would have 
William crowned king of England. The other asked the 
same question in French. All the people answered "Yes," 
clapping their hands and shouting. At this great noise the 
French soldiers who were keeping guard outside fancied 
there was an uproar or a rebellion, and began to set fire to 



134 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the houses round about. The people ran out of the church, 
and there was a great tumult. And William, though a 
strong, fierce man, trembled from head to foot. Then the 
Archbishop of York crowned him, " and he pledged him on 
Christ's book, before he would set the crown on his head, 
that he would govern this nation as well as any king before 
him had best done if they would be faithful to him. The 
history of the next twenty years shows how he kept his word. 

Thus William was crowned king of England, and his 
descendants have sat on the throne of England ever since. 

Before proceeding to the events of his reign, let us con- 
sider some of the results of the Norman Conquest. We 
Results m ust observe first, that England never got rid of 
of the the Xormans. As was mentioned before, she never 
Conquest. rea lly got rid of the Danes; but that did not in the 
end make much difference to the English people. The Danes, 
except for being a century or two behind in civilization, were 
almost exactly like the English. They had much the same 
language, habits, laws, and religion as our forefathers had 
when they first came to England. They learned the Chris- 
tian religion, and became Englishmen without difficulty. 

But these Frenchmen, though Northmen by blood, were 
not much like their ancestors, or like the English. Their 
language was quite different, and their habits, manners, and 
character were quite different. And the two nations hated 
each other. The French despised the conquered English, 
the English despised the proud and cruel French. 

Yet after a time, wonderful as it may be, the French 
became English, as the Danes had done. They gradually 
lost their native tongue and learned English; they 
Union of came to respect the sturdy English virtues, and in 
time w T ere proud of being themselves Englishmen. 
But this union was not brought about with ease, as was the 
case with the Danes. Many centuries of trouble and misery 
had to pass before it was complete.* 



* It is nearer truth to state that the Xormans in England became 
English mainly when they wished to prevent more of their country- 
men from coming over to share the lordship of the island. This was 
later, in the reign of the Angevine kings. And then a war with 
France intensified the growing feeling of patriotism, so that a chan- 
cellor read an address to Parliament in English, and the nobles of 
Norman descent began to have their children taught the speech of the 
people. — Ed. 



THE CONQUEST. 135 

When the fusion was complete, there were no more Anglo- 
Saxons or Normans, but all were English, there was a great 
change. Neither the English people nor the English lan- 
guage was the same as it had been before. The union of 
Normans and English had produced a finer jjeople than the 
English would have been alone, and the union of their 
languages a nobler, more varied, and more perfect language. 

In some important respects the English were a finer people 
than the Normans, although they were conquered. They 
understood far more about liberty and law, justice and self- 
control. They were less arrogant and cruel, and in many 
ways were quite as clever. But the Normans were more 
quick, more enterprising, and better soldiers. They thought 
more of refinement, grace, and polish. They had also seen 
a great deal more of the rest of the world, and knew more of 
human nature. Islanders are apt to be narrow and limited 
in their ideas, because they have not known many different 
sorts of people. And in consequence of the union with the 
Normans, England came to take more interest in the affairs 
of Europe than she would have done otherwise. 

The English at that time appear to have had little spirit 
of enterprise ; they had settled down into a quiet kind of 
farmer's life, content with holding their own and keeping 
off their enemies. The Normans were restless and full of 
ambition. Wherever there were adventures, and fighting 
was to be had, Normans would be sure to be there. Some 
went to Spain, to Greece, to Sicily, and to Italy. Wherever 
they went they made themselves famous, and in some places 
they founded great kingdoms. 

At the present day the people who wander over the whole 
world are the English ; a traveller can hardly go to the most 
remote place in Africa or America without finding an Eng- 
lishman there ; to say nothing of the great empire in India, 
and the vast colonies in Canada, Africa, New Zealand, 
Australia, and other places. This is due to the Norman 
fire and energy, which joined itself* to the Teuton perse- 
verance and industry. It was like putting the swift spirit 
of an eagle into the strong body of an ox. 

For a long time the two languages were quite distinct, 
but when both races began to coalesce and their 
speech to blend, English was wonderfully improved. The two 
It was still English, and not French, as the nation 
was still English, and not French. But as the nation had 



136 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

acquired many good qualities, many arts, talents, and refine- 
ments, and had lost some of its clumsiness, through the union 
with the French, so had the language gained many new and 
beautiful words, and left off some of its unnecessary and 
cumbrous forms. 

A very learned German (Grimm) has said of the English 
language that " it possesses a power of expression such as 
perhaps never stood at the command of any other language 
of men." And he thinks its perfection is the result "of a 
Surprisingly intimate union of the two noblest languages in 
modern Europe, the Teutonic and the Romance." 

It must be remembered that our forefathers were Teu- 
tons, the same family as the Germans, that our language is 
much like the German still, and that many of our commonest 
words are the same or only a little differently pronounced. 
Almost all our little words, pronouns, adverbs, and prepo- 
sitions, come to us also from the German. But we have 
besides all these a great many delightful and expressive 
words which the Germans have not, words which came orig- 
inally from the Latin, and which the French gave to us. 
We have also many Latin words which Ave have taken at 
first hand, but the greater part came to us through the 
French. 

In the following stanzas the words from the Latin or 
French are printed in Italics; the remaining words are of 
English or Teutonic origin. 

" Be thou, O God, exalted high, 
And as thy glory fills the sky, 
So let it be on earth displayed 
Till thou art here as there obeyed." 

"God save our gracious Queen, 
Long live our noble Queen, 

God save the Queen. 
Send her victorious, 
Happy and glorious. 
Long to reign over us, 

God save the Queen." 

We could not well spare such beautiful words as " gra- 
cious," " glorious," etc. Our language would have been a 
sort of heavy homespun without them. 

Another result of this blending is that in many cases we 
have two words for the same idea : one homely for every- 



THE CONQUEST. 137 

day use, and another rather grand or ornate for special 
occasions. 

Happiness .... Felicity. 

Truth - Veracity. 

Heavy Ponderous. 

Almighty .... Omnipotent. 

Earthly Terrestrial. 

Heavenly .... Celestial. 

Shining Eadiant. 

It is obviously a great advantage to have two treasuries 
or armories of thought, and with our varied stores there is 
choice for every nicest shade of expression. 

As the Frenchmen came in as conquerors * and lords, 
nearly all the lordly words belong to them, such as History in 
sovereign, sceptre, throne, royalty, homage, duke, words, 
count, palace, castle ; though the highest of all, king and 
queen, are English. 

In matters of every-day life, and particularly in regard 
to animals and food, we see that one class of words belonged 
to the master and another to the servant. When sheep 
and oxen were to be tended and fed, their names were 
Saxon ; but when they were killed and prepared for the 
lord's table they became French, — mutton and beef. It 
was the same with calf and veal, deer and venison, pig and 
pork, f Bacon is an old English word, and that was almost 
the only sort of meat which the poor could get. 

* For observations on this subject the reader may consult the intro- 
duction to Underwood's Hand-Book of English Literature. 

t This matter is ably as well as humorously treated in the first chap- 
ter of Ivanhoe, from which Guest borrowed the thought and illustra- 
tion. 

The fusion of Norman and Anglo-Saxon was very slowly accom- 
plished. For four centuries at least there was one language for the 
noblemen and gentlemen, and another for the common people. The 
currents of thought and expression had come together, forced into 
the same channel, but, like the waters of the Mississippi and the 
Missouri, they refused to mingle, and showed their diverse sources 
far below the point of union. In the end there was a tacit com- 
promise. The facts of every-day lite, the names of the heavenly 
bodies, the elements, the family relations, the house and home, 
domestic animals, crops, and tools of husbandry, the various modes 
of motion, simple articles of food and raiment, were all known by 
Anglo-Saxon names. But terms that belong to government, to the 
privileges of high birth, to the usages of courts, to the dress and 
equipment of knights and dames, to tournaments, crusades, and 
pilgrimages, to letters and art, were all of Norman origin. 



138 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

We have now passed over more than 1100 years since the 
beginning of written English history. In those years many 
foreign peoples endeavored to possess the fertile island, and 
succeeded in making lodgments upon it, and in the end com- 
The E s- psratively few of the progeny of original Britons 
lishna- remained. The Norman Conquest was the last 
tion. great change which has taken place in the nation. 

It will be well to take note of the various races who, at 
different times, have joined in making the English people. 

1st. There were the people mentioned in the first chapter, 
of whom we have no written history, but of whom we know 
something by the things they left behind them : their tools, 
clothes, graves, skeletons, etc., — the people of the bronze 
age. These were almost certainly short, small, dark men, 
and no doubt some of their blood continues in the veins of 
Englishmen. Not one word of their language is left; 
though some people in the northwest of Spain, on the shores 
of the Bay of Biscay, are still believed to speak it. 

2d. The Celts or ancient Britons, of whom we have 
written accounts, whose descendants still live in Wales, Ire- 
land, and other places, sj leaking their own language. We 
have also some of their blood in us ; and we have a few, 
though a very few, of their words in our language ; basket, 
cradle, clan, kilt are Celtic words, and so are many names of 
places, as Kent, London, and Leeds, and of rivers, as Avon, 
Ouse, and Derwent. 

3d. The Romans, who left roads and other remains, and 
taught the Britons Christianity, but from whom we do not 
seem to have received much more, except a few words, such 
as "street" which comes from their name for a paved road 
(strata via); and the names, or half the names, of some cities, 
as Manchester, the last part of which maybe a Latin word.* 

4th. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who are the principal 
ancestors of the nation, and who are generally called the 
English, and their language the English language. 

5th. The Danes, who were near relations to the English, 
and soon mingled with th/>m ; whose language was much 
like English, though not quite the same, and from whom we 
received a few words (as ugly, weak, cat, dairy) ; and some 
names of places, as Derby, Grimsby. 

* Ceaster (pronounced Keaster) is Anglo-Saxon for a fortified place. 
So the " Chester" is not necessarily from the Latin castra. 



THE CONQUEST. 189 

6th. The Normans, whoso share in our language and 
character have been just spoken of. 

Since that time there have been a few settlements of for- 
eigners here and there, sometimes Flemings, sometimes 
French, but they were not large enough to produce any im- 
portant effect. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



THE CONQUEROR. 



The foreigners in England. The feudal system. The castles. Risings of the 
English. Devastation of Northumberland. The New Forest. Appointments 
in the Church. Resistance to Papal encroachment. Death of the Conqueror. 

Tins new king of England was a very remarkable man ; 
had he not been so, he never would have been king. His 
character has been very carefully and graphically 
' described by the writer of the "Chronicle" at this 
period, who tells us that he had seen him, and had even lived 
in his court for a time. And William of Malmesbury, who 
has been quoted before, and whose father was one of the 
Frenchmen who came to England at or soon after the Con- 
quest, gives us his opinion of him too ; but he frankly owns 
that, though he wishes to speak the truth, he shall make 
much of his good points, and pass lightly over his bad ones. 
No doubt it Avas rather dangerous to speak out plainly about 
the fierce and powerful monarch, whose sons or grandsons 
might be still living. 

As to his appearance, William says, "he was of just stature, 

, ir „. extraordinary corpulence, and fierce countenance. 

William TT . J . l , . ' . ,. „ tt 

the Con- He was majestic, whether sitting or standing. He 
queror. wag gQ s t ron g that no one but himself could draw 
his bow. 

The chronicler tells us, " He was a very wise man, and 
very powerful ; more dignified and strong than any who 
went before him were." He also says, "He was mild to 
the good men who loved God ; " but it really appears that 
he only meant by those "good men" monks and churchmen, 
for it is not easy to find a trace of his ever being mild to any 
one else. And in the very same breath he goes on to say, 
"He was over all measure severe to the men who gainsaid 
his will. He w T as a very rigid and cruel man, so that no 
man durst do anything against his will. . . . He had earls in 
his bonds who had acted against his will ; bishops he cast 

140 



THE CONQUEROR. 141 

from their bishoprics, and abbots from their abbeys; and 
thanes he kept in prison ; and at last he spared not his own 
brother." . 

William of Malmesbury (who confessed his partiality) 
says, "His anxiety for money is the only thing for which he 
can be deservedly blamed. He sought all opportunities of 
scraping it together; he cared not how. He would say and 
do some things, indeed almost anything, unbecoming such 
great majesty." The "Chronicle" gives the same account: 
"He had fallen into covetousness, and altogether loved 
greediness." Then presently the chronicler breaks out again 
about his determination to follow his own will. "His great 
men bewailed it, and the poor murmured thereat; but he 
was so obdurate that he recked not the hatred of them all; 
but they must wholly follow the king's will if they would 
have land, or property, or even his peace." 

This was a contrast to the gentle and pious Edward. 
However, not all that the Conqueror willed was wicked. At 
the beginning of his reign he promised fairly, and perhaps 
intended to govern justly. But he became more and more 
pitiless and hard-hearted as time went on. 

Soon after he had settled himself in England, and all 
things seemed quite quiet and peaceable, he went back to 
Normandy, taking with him the prince, or etheling, Edgar, 
many of the English nobles, and the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury ; and, moreover, taking, what we know he was very 
fond of, an immense quantity of gold and silver and other 
precious things. For, in spite of all the plundering of the 
Danes, of which we have been hearing so much for hundreds 
of years, England was still a rich country then. 

When he got back to France, about Easter, he held a grand 
festival, and the French lords and princes were struck with 
admiration at the splendid things he had brought from 
England, the gold and silver dishes, vases, and cups, the 
embroidered hangings, and above all, the beauty and long- 
rlowing hair of the young English nobles. 

But meanwhile affairs went on badly in England. The 
two men he had left in charge, one of whom was his own 
half-brother Odo, a bishop, and who ought therefore to have 
been just and sympathizing, treated the English so harshly 
and cruelly that they began to rebel. 

Though the Norman conquest proved in the end for the 
good of the English nation, yet at the time and for years 



142 guest's f.xgllsh history. 

after it was an awful calamity. It will not be possible to 
„, mention all the different risinsrs of the English, 

The mis™ ™ o * 

eryof nor how they were put down; but we will attempt 
England. ^ gj ve some idea of the state of the country on 
the whole. 

It was overrun by foreigners. It had been very offensive 

to the English, even in the days of Edward the Confessor, to 

have so many Frenchmen brought in as friends of 

^tlSS the king and favored. How much more when thev 
masters. • <■ t ■ 

came in far greater numbers, and no longer as vis- 
itors, but as conquerors and masters! All over the country, 
by degrees, the English lords and gentlemen were turned 
out of their homes, and their houses and lands given to 
Frenchmen. The English archbishops and bishops were 
also supplanted, until there was only one left. 

Not only nobles, soldiers, and churchmen came to England, 
but the lower classes also, tradesmen and artisans, all think- 
ing themselves a great deal better than the English. Fuller 
thus describes the coming over of these people : " Soon 
would the head of the best Monsieur ache without a hatter; 
hands be tanned without a glover ; feet be foundered without 
a tanner, currier, shoemaker ; whole body be starved and cold 
without weaver, fuller, tailor ; hungry without baker, brewer, 
cook; harborless without mason, smith, carpenter. . . . And 
such as are acquainted with the French finical humor (both 
ancient and modern) know they account our tailors, botchers; 
our shoemakers, cobblers; our cooks, slovens; conrpared to 
the exactness of their fancy and palate. 1 ' 

All this would have been intensely galling even had the 
foreigners been courteous and reasonable; but no words can 
tell how haughty, how cruel, how insolent these nobles and 
soldiers were. In their own country they had been perpet- 
ually fighting amongst themselves, or rebelling against their 
duke, and always ill-treating the lower people. If ever, by 
chance, there was a man among them who had some feeling 
of religion, and some pity for the poor, he was almost sure, 
unfortunately, to retire from the world and become a monk, 
instead of remaining at his post and trying to do good. 

It was at this time that the " feudal system " was thor- 
oughly established in England. There was no 
The feudal standing army. The king kept a small number of 
paid body-guards, but in time of war every man of 
every rank, from the nobility and gentry to farmers and 



THE CONQUEROR. 143 

laborers, might be called upon to fight. Bishops and clergy- 
men even took up arms, though it was against the laws of 
the church. There was no distinct profession of arms as a 
pursuit in life, except that knights were bound to free mili- 
tary service by their knightly oath, and by their loyalty to 
their lord paramount. 

The theory of the feudal system was that every one, 
except the king, had a lord over him, to whom he owed ser- 
vice, and who owed him protection ; and a great part of the 
service which the "men" or vassals owed to their lord was 
military service. The king was supposed to be the owner 
of all the land in the kingdom, and he granted estates to 
the great nobles on condition that when he went to war 
they "would come and fight for him, and bring men in pro- 
portion to the size of the estate. When he received the 
estate he had to kneel before the king bareheaded, and, 
without sword or spear, to put his hands in his, and swear 
to become his man, and to serve him faithfully, even to 
death. This Mas called doing homage. 

A nobleman Avho had a very great estate would divide his 
land among under-lords, on conditions that they would follow 
him to battle and fight for him. These under-lords would, 
perhaps, divide theirs again into small properties, and have 
their "men" in them. Everybody who had any land kept 
possession of it only on condition of coming to fight him- 
self; and if it was a large property, of bringing a fixed num- 
ber of men to fight for his lord. On the lord's part, he 
promised to protect and defend his "man" or his vassal. 

Some of the dukes in France and other parts of the Con- 
tinent, who had very large fiefs, became as powerful, or 
even more powerful, than the king himself. The king of 
France had often hard work to maintain his authority over 
his great vassals. The Duke of Normandy was one of 
these. He held Normandy on condition of being the man 
or vassal of the king of France. The Duke of Brittany 
held Brittany on the same terms, and many other of the 
great lords of France also. All of these had subjects and 
armies of their own, and could do pretty much as they liked 
in their own dominions. 

This same system came into full force in England, or very 
nearly so; and though William took care to keep the mas- 
tery in his own hands, still the great vassals, each on his 
own land, and with his own followers, became much like 



144 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

little kings, doing nearly as they pleased, which was gener- 
ally to quarrel with each other and to oppress the English. 

One of the first things they began to do was a thing very 
hateful to the English, namely, to build strong 
The castles. castles to ]ive m Alfred's children, Edward and 
Ethelfled, as we saw, had built many of these "burgs" in 
their wars with the Danes; but for a nobleman or gentleman 
to build such a place for his own dwelling, and to rill it with 
armed men, was something altogether new and horrible. 

The castles were built very strongly. The principal part 
was a great tower or " keep," in which the lord and his 
family lived. The lowest part of all, where now an English 
gentleman would have his wine-cellar, was sometimes a 
store-room, but often a prison. It throws a strange light on 
the state of society when we know that a nobleman or gentle- 
man had, as part of his own house, a prison for his enemies. 

The walls of these towers were sometimes fifteen feet 
thick, and the ruins of many of them are still to be seen. 
The grandest of all, which is still in preservation, is a part 
of the " Tower of London," and was built for William him- 
self. Outside the tower, which stood in a sort of large 
court, was a strong wall, very often with a smaller tower at 
each corner, where soldiers could be placed for defence. 

In very large castles there would even be two courtyards, 
one outside the other; the soldiers and other people, as 
blacksmiths and carpenters, lodged in these courts. The 
great gateway was also very strong, and had a portcullis, 
which was an immense sliding shutter, made of iron bars, 
and could be let down in a moment. One of these is still 
to be seen in the Tower of London. Outside was a broad 
and deep ditch full of water, which was called a moat, over 
which entrance was by a bridge ; and, to make it still more 
secure, this was a drawbridge, which could be lifted or let 
down by the people inside. 

If a Norman baron were to rise from the dead and see 
one of the houses English gentlemen now live in, standing 
open and cheerful in pleasant gardens, with no soldiers or 
armed men anywhere, only peaceable servants and gar- 
deners, he would be amazed. He would think the owner 
would soon be robbed and murdered, and his family carried 
off to prison. 

Though the castle looked so grand, the rooms where the 
lord and lady lived were small and dark, and there were 



THE CONQUEROR. 145 

very few of them ; so that a lady often had no drawing- 
room, but must sit in her bedroom. As for the servants, 
they seem to have had no bedrooms at all ; a quantity of 
straw was spread on the floor of the lower rooms, where 
they passed the night. After a time, however, the barons 
Luilt large and handsome dining-halls, where they and their 
retainers might feast. 

During the reign of William the Conqueror, which only 
lasted twenty-two years, castles like this were rising up all 
over the country, and in each of them ruled a French tyrant, 
who could rob and plunder as he liked, taking the lands of 
the English, and their daughters too, and dividing them 
among their own men. 

These barons more than once rebelled against William. 
Some of them even attempted to make friends with the 
English, and help them in a revolt ; but it was all in vain. 
What William had been strong enough to win he was 
strong enough to keep, and the proudest of the barons had 
to humble himself before the king. 

Perhaps the worst thing William did was the way he put 
down and punished a rebellion in Northumberland. Edgar 
the Etheling, with his mother, the Hungarian 
lady, and his two sisters, had taken refuge in The rebel- 
Scotland. The king of Scotland married Edgar's jj 0I U nthe 
sister Margaret, who was a worthy descendant of 
the old English kings. He now helped his brother-in-law 
in an effort to gain the crown of England, which by birth 
was his right. The king of Denmark also joined him ; for 
the Danes had almost ceased to be enemies, and were wel- 
comed as helpers and allies against the cruel French. A 
great rising was made in the northern counties. The 
Danes sailed up the Humber ; Edgar and the Scotchmen ad- 
vanced into England from the north, and till William him- 
self came to the rescue the French got the worst of it. But 
when William arrived the alliance fell to pieces. The 
Danes became faithless and went away, and the English and 
Scotch were thoroughly beaten at York. Edgar tied back 
to Scotland, and William stood master. 

When William had first heard of the rebellion he was out 
hunting. He fell into one of his great furies, and 
swore " by the splendor of God " he would utterly ^^^ 
exterminate the Northumbrian people, and he kejit 
his oath. All the ravaging and harrying of former years were 



146 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

like child's play compared to this. He divided his army 
into separate companies, and they went all over the country 
destroying and burning the orchards and fields with their 
fruit and corn ; burning the towns and villages, killing the 
sheep, the cattle, and the people. Whatever they did nut 
burn or kill they carried off. And this they did over the 
great stretch of country from the Humber to the Tyne. 

Even the French who wrote of this horrible massacre 
were appalled by it. England had never known anything 
like it before. The dead bodies lay about on the roads and 
in the fields ; there was no one to bury them. The wretched 
creatures who had not been killed wandered about, without 
shelter or food. A frightful plague broke out among them, 
brought on by misery and hunger; and it is said that more 
than 100,000 victims perished. When William of Malmes- 
buvy wrote, which was sixty years afterwards, he says that 
beautiful country was still lying waste and bare; and "if 
any ancient inhabitant remains he knows it no longer." 

But even this was not his worst deed. For this barbarity 
he had, perhaps, some shadow of an excuse, in the fact that 
these people had rebelled against him. But he afterwards 
did something of the same kind in a quiet part of England, 
where he had had no provocation. This was when 
T Forest W ne ma< ^ e tne New Forest in Hampshire. The only 
pleasure this stern and ruthless man ever enjoyed 
Mas hunting. His love for the chase is very quaintly de- 
scribed by the chronicler. " He planted a great preserve for 
deer, and he laid down laws therewith, that whoso should 
slay hart or hind should be blinded. He forbade the harts, 
and also the boars, to be killed." This was in order that 
there might be the more for him to kill. "As greatly did 
he love the tall deer as if he were their father. He also or- 
dained, concerning the hares, that they should go free." 

To make that " preserve," as the " Chronicle " calls it, he 
seized on a large district in Hampshire, nearly ninety miles 
round, in which there were many pleasant villages, with 
their churches, farm-houses, and corn-fields. He utterly 
destroyed all these, and turned out the helpless people with- 
out recompense. This was the man who had promised to be 
a "kind lord" to the English! The cruel punishments for 
those who meddled with his wild deer, and his turning out 
of innocent people, and destruction of their homes, to form 
a hunting-ground for himself, made a deep and lasting im- 



THE CONQUEROR. 147 

pression on the minds of the English, and it was believed 
that a special judgment of God would avenge it. And 
indeed two of the Conqueror's sons and one of his grandsons 
met their death in this New Forest. 

Another thing William did, which greatly offended the 
English, was to send men to survey every part of the 
country, and to bring an exact account of it. The people 
resented this, because they thought he would make it a 
foundation for laying on more taxes, as perhaps he 1085 . 6 
did. This record, called Domesday Book, is still Domesday 
in existence, and contains many interesting facts Book- 
about the state of the country at that time, — how much 
ploughed land there was; how much meadow-land; how 
many people lived in each town and village, and so on. 
" So very narrowly he caused it to be traced out, that there 
was not one yard of land, nor even — it is a shame to tell, 
though it seemed to him no shame to do — an ox, nor a cow, 
nor a swine left that was not set down in his writ." 

Though William had shown so much cruelty, and had 
wronged so many English people, he did other things which 
were worthy of the king of England. He showed The k - 
that he had courage to confront the Pope, and re- and the 
sist his encroachments. Pope Gregory VII. had Pope# 
not given his banner and his blessing for nothing; and when 
William was settled on the throne of England he demanded 
in return that he should do homage to him for it. 

William positively refused, and, to show how much he was 
in earnest, he would not even let the English bishops go out 
of the country to attend the Pope's councils. He compelled 
all the bishops to do homage to him as the barons did, and 
to send soldiers from their lands to fight for him. He would 
not even let a letter from the Pope come into the country 
without his permission. 

Up to this time the king and the earls and the bishops 
had been friendly, and had worked together harmoniously ; 
there could hardly be said to be any distinction between 
Church and State. Hitherto, also, the Popes had made no 
offensive claims to supremacy; but from henceforward there 
were many disputes, which grew to be very serious. For 
a while, however, William with his strong will kept all in 
his own hands. 

Though, by degrees, he turned out the English bishops 
and other churchmen and put Frenchmen in their places, he 



148 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was careful to choose good men: Lanfranc, the now Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, in particular, was :i very 

Lanfranc. ] earne( | an ,| excellent man. He and others of the 
new bishops founded good schools in many places; he also 
joined with the king and the only remaining English bishop 
in putting an end to the slave-trade at Bristol, which had 
gone on for so many years. But Lanfranc was made so 
miserable by the cruelty and oppression which he saw around 
him, that he Longed to leave the country, and even wrote 
imploring the Pope to allow him to quit such scenes of 
wickedness and tyranny. 

The Fixnch Mere, as we know, far superior to the English 
in architecture, and the new-comers began to build splendid 
churches and abbeys in all parts. Many of the beautiful 
cathedrals were begun at this period, or very soon after- 
wards ; some of the finest were Durham, Peterborough) 
Rochester, and Gloucester. They still used round arches 
and massive pillars, which were richly decorated, and gave 
a stately and solemn impression. 

The private life of William was excellent ; he was a faith- 
ful husband, and a kind and indulgent father; indeed, it 
seems that this man, so fierce ami unbending to all others, 
indulged and spoilt his children. His eldest son, Richard, 
was killed by a stag in the New Forest. In his latter years 
the next son, Robert, rebelled against him ; and he was 
engaged in wars both with him and the king of France 
during the last part of his life. 

The Etheling Edgar, who was the last man of the old 
v j r*i. English royal blood, did not have a glorious end, 

tnct ot tne . f 3 , • ° . 

Etheling but at the same time it was not an unhappy one. 

Edgar. After the disastrous failure in Northumberland he 
went back to the king and queen of Scotland. They '• gave 
him and all his men great gifts and many treasures, in skins 
decked with purple, and in pelisses of marten skin, and 
weasel skin, and ermine skin, and in golden and silver ves- 
sels; " but they advised him at last to make peace with 
William, which he did. The king received him well ; and 
lie also gave him large presents. William of Malmesbury 
says that, " remaining at court for many years, he silently 
sunk into contempt through his indolence, or, more mildly 
speaking, his simplicity." He made friends with the king's 
son Robert, and afterwards went with him to Jerusalem. 
But he finally returned to England, received a pension, and 



THE OOKQUEROE. 140 

when William of Malniesbury wrote "lie was growing old 
in the country in privacy and quiet ;" a great contrast to his 
grandfather Edmund, and so many others of his race, who 
lived such short but glorious lives. 

The disputes of William with his son Robert and the king 
of France, do not belong properly to the history of England, 
but it was during his war with the latter that his end 10g _ 
came. He had taken and set on tire the town of Death of 
Mantes, and was riding through it when his horse, WlUiam - 
setting his foot on the red-hot ashes, stumbled, and threw 
him heavily against the saddle. He never recovered from 
the hurt. They earned him to Rouen, where he lay dying 
many weeks, during which time he made what arrangements 
he could for the disposal of the dominions and treasures 
which he had spent his life in gaining. He bequeathed the 
Duchy of Normandy to his eldest son, Robert, and the king- 
dom of England to the second. The youngest son, Henry, 
only received a sum of money, and no land or dominion at 
all; but his father, who well knew the characters of his chil- 
dren, foretold that the day would come when Henry would 
have all. 

He tried to make some reparation for the evil he had done, 
by ordering large sums of money to be given to churches 
and monasteries, and particularly that the church of Mantes, 
which had been burnt down, should be rebuilt. He also 
commanded many of his prisoners to be set free. 

After all his triumphs, the great conqueror could barely 
find an honorable grave or a true mourner. At the moment 
when he was to be laid in a tomb in a church he had built 
at Caen, a certain knight stood forth, " loudly exclaiming 
against the robbery." The very land the church was built 
upon had belonged to him and to his father before him, 
and William had taken it by force to found this new church. 
It was not till a sum of money had been paid to appease this 
injured man that the funeral was proceeded with. And at 
most only one of the sons he had loved followed his father 
to the grave. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE CONQUEROR'S SONS. 

William Rufus. His brother Robert. The king and the barons. The English 
people. Anselni. The Crusades. Henry lieauclerc. His marriage. The 
English take his part. Peace, order, and justice. Stephen and Matilda. 
Misery of the country. The agreement and promised reform. Death of 
Stephen. 

William, the Conqueror's second son, who is generally 
called Rufus, from his red hair and complexion, lost no time 
1087 m 8" om » over to England to take possession of the 
William kingdom and his father's treasure. This treasure 
Eufus - was at Winchester, and the "Chronicle" says, "It 
was not to he expressed by any man how much was there 
gathered in gold, and in silver, and in vessels, and in robes, 
and in gems, and in many other precious things." 

He was speedily crowned by Lanfranc, as his father had 
desired. He seems to have been one of the worst kings 
England ever had ; more hated and detested far 
His char- t, nan hj s father had been. William the Conqueror 
had something grand and kingly about him, which 
people looked upon with awe and reverence as well as fear. 
William Rufus was brutal, coarse, irreligious, and ignorant, 
besides being, like his father, cruel, tyrannical, and avari- 
cious. William of Malmesbury says that in public "he had 
a supercilious and threatening look, and a severe and fero- 
cious voice ; in private he liked jesting and levity." He 
tells us too that he "blushes to relate the crimes of so great 
a king ; " but he relates quite enough to show what his 
opinion really was. "He feared God but little; man not at 
all." 

He outraged the people not only by his unjust taxes and 
oppression, but by his contempt shown toward all they held 
sacred. It appears to have been his custom " to come into 
church with menacing and insolent gestures," and to treat 
the bishops and clergy with shameful injustice. The value 
placed on "relics" in those times has been mentioned al- 

150 



thk conqueror's sons. 151 

ready. The bones of saints and other such things were 
placed in receptacles in the churches, ornamented with gold, 
silver, and jewels, and called "shrines," and they were 
regarded with a reverence that we in our days can hardly 
understand. When William Rufus wanted money, which 
lie nearly always did, for he was a spendthrift as well as 
covetous, he called the relies " dead men's bones," and made 
the abbots and bishops give up the gold and silver from 
their shrines, and even their crueifixes and sacramental cups. 

The " Chronicle " says, " All that was hateful to God and 
oppressive to men was customary in this land in his time, 
and therefore he w r as most hateful to almost all his people, 
and odious to God." Moreover, he was perpetually quarrel- 
ing with his brothers. 

As long as Archbishop Lanfranc lived he was kept in 
some kind of check, and the people were inclined to take his 
part. Almost as soon as the Conqueror was dead, the fierce 
lord's, whom even he could hardly hold in check, began to 
rebel again. 

Robert, the eldest son, who was Duke of Normandy, 

would have liked to be king of England too. For 

these Frenchmen found England a very pleasant His brother 

i t, • 11 ;" ,i i l Robert, 

plaee. It is very well, as t uller remarks, to say 

that France is so much better than England, and when we 

have ale they have wine, and when we have oats they have 

wheat ; in short, that France is a garden and England only 

afield. "But let such know," says patriotic Fuller, "that 

England in itself is an excellent country, too good for the 

unthankful people which live therein ; and such foreigners 

wdio seemingly slight secretly love, and like the plenty 

thereof." 

Many of the great Norman lords took part with Robert ; 
partly because he was of a much pleasanter disposition than 
William; partly also because they now had lands both in 
England and France, and if they did not like one master, far 
less would they like two. So they wished one man to be 
both king of England and Duke of Normandy, and that 
man to be Robert. 

William for his part would have had no objection to be 
Duke of Normandy, but he had no notion of giving up Eng- 
land. These disputes between the king and the barons 
turned out in the end very well for the English, because, as 
the barons were against him, the kins;- had to throw himself 



1")2 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

upon the people and endeavor to win their confidence. In 

after times, when the kings grew strung, the barons had to 

do the same ; so the people rose in importance and were 

better treated. 

But William was faithless ; he made excellent promises to 

the people again and again, but never kept them, 

^i 1 ! 1 ^™! 8 any more than he kept his coronation oath. Now 
promises. ?' . . i . 

being in tins trouble with his l)rother Kobert, he 
called the English together and begged them to help him. 
He promised, if they would aid him in his need, he would 
give them better laws of their own choosing; he would im- 
pose no more unjust taxes, and he would not enforce the 
laws of the chase with such cruelty. So the English agreed 
to stand by him, and fight for him. 

But William did not keep his word, and when Lanfranc 
died he went from bad to worse. After a few years he fell 
ill, and then, thinking he was going to die, he began to 
repent and made new promises. But as soon as he got well 
he behaved worse than ever. 

He did one good things for which it appears he was 
heartily sorry afterwards; that was, that he appointed a 
very good old man to be Archbishop of Canterbury. Lan- 
franc had been dead some years, yet the king had never 
tilled his place, in order that he might keep the great income 
which belonged to the see for himself. The new 

nse m. ar( jj||jig] 10 p j whose name was Anselm, was very un- 
willing indeed to be settled in England near such a king as 
he knew William to be. He said, "the Church of England 
was a plough which ought to be drawn by two oxen of equal 
strength ; would they then yoke him to it, an old feeble 
sheep, with a wild bull?" 

The king and the archbishop very soon fell out, as might 
have been expected. We must pass over the great dispute 
that went on through several reigns between the king and 
the church, and for the present only observe that William's 
violence was such that Anselm left the country. 

But before he went away he fell into a difficulty of 
another kind. He complained that the noblemen and gen- 
tlemen had begun to wear long, curling hair. The French 
had perhaps for once condescended to learn this fashion from 
the English, since they had admired Edgar the Etheling and 
the other young Englishmen with their flowing locks when 
William the Conqueror took them over to France. Nor 



THE CONQUEROR'S SONS. 153 

could he abide the preposterous long shoes with sharp 
points — sometimes so long that the ends were tied up to 
the knees with silver chains. Innumerable sermons were 
preached against these shoes ; the clergy even held assenv 
blies to denounce them; but all "in vain. Hume observes, 
" Such are the strange contradictions of human nature, 
though the clergy at that time could overthrow thrones, and 
had authority sufficient to send a million of men on their 
errand to the deserts of Asia, they could never prevail 
against those long-pointed shoes." 

It may be well to explain what Hume meant by the million 
of men going to the deserts of Asia. We remember 
Canute's pilgrimage to Rome, and the troubles and cru ^| es 
dangers by the way. The still holier pilgrimage to 
Palestine and the tomb of Christ was even more dangerous. 
Yet people longed to go there, not only from love to Christ's 
memory, but because they believed that if they made that 
journey their sins would be forgiven. A pilgrim would lay 
by the shirt he wore to Jerusalem, that he might be buried in 
it, for he thought that would carry him straight to heaven. 

The Holy Land was ruled by the Tiu'ks, who were a cruel 
people and had a hatred for the Christian religion. They 
began to insult and ill-treat the visitors to the holy places. 
The patriarch was interrupted in his prayers, dragged along 
the pavement by his hair, and thrown into a dungeon. The 
Christians were murdered and outraged, and treated like 
the worst of criminals. 

The Pope, the clergy, the princes, the people of Europe 
began to be greatly moved. Above all, the preaching of 
one man stirred the hearts of all. This was a Frenchman 
called Peter, who had been a soldier, but had become reli- 
gious. He became a hermit (more solitary than a monk) and 
went on the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. There he saw the 
state of things just described. He came back to Europe full 
of burning zeal, and resolved to rouse the nations of Chris- 
tendom to put an end to the disgrace of leaving the sacred 
places in the hands of the infidel. 

He had the gift of a fiery eloquence, which works on the 
heart of the multitude. Wherever he went people gathered 
in crowds, and listened with sobs and cries. Everyone was 
glowing with desire to do something in honor of Christ, and 
to fight against His enemies. So an immense army arose. 
Princes, nobles, knights, poor men, even women and chil- 



154 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

dren, of all Christian nations, were fired with the same en- 
thusiasm. The Pope blessed them, promised forgiveness of 
sins to all who would fight in such a holy war, and bade 
them wear a red cross, in sign of their religion. This was 
the beginning of the " Crusades," or wars of the cross, which 
from this time were carried on, at intervals, for three hun- 
dred years. 

The crusades will be mentioned again, because a great 
many English, Scotch, and Welsh joined them, and at 

different times they had much to do with English 
11 no 

history. The account of the taking of Jerusalem 

is one of the strangest in all history ; it is such a mixture of 
wickedness and piety ; the same men seeming devils in the 
morning and saints in the evening.* 

The Duke of Normandy wished to join the army of cru- 
saders. And, as he wished to have a large body of followers, 
he required more money than he had. William 
gets^os- saw his opportunity, and gave Robert a large sum of 

session of money on condition of his selling or nledinno; Xor- 
Normandy. -i , 1 • e n ,,.•„•' <• ° 

manay to nun tor five years. \\ imam, 01 course, 

wrung this money out of the poor English, and his cruelty, 

added to their other troubles, made their condition very 

pitiable. The chronicler gives us very short and melancholy 

records of this time, as these specimens show. 

"1096. This was a very dismal year all over England, 
both through manifold taxes, and also through a very sad 
famine. 

" 1097. This was, in all things, a very sad year, and over- 
grievous from the tempests . . . and unjust taxes, which 
never ceased. 

" 1098. This was a very sad year, through manifold un- 
just taxes, and through the great rains, which ceased not all 
the year." 

The king's end was near. One summer day he went out 
hunting in the New Forest, the forest which his father's cru- 
elty had made, and where his eldest brother, Rich- 

ti- 1 j 00 ;i. ard, had already met with his death. According 
His death. ' ,-...•. , it, 

to the old histories, there had been many strange 

omens and prophecies about the king's death. He himself 

had had a dreadful dream, and so had other men ; and 

although in his usual mocking way he laughed at it, it was 

* This may be read in " The Crusades," G. W. Cox, pp. 70-72. 



THE CONQUEROR'S SONS. 155 

noticed that he drank more wine than nsnal before he set 
out. The last time he was seen alive he was riding through 
the forest with only one man by his side, a French knight 
named Walter Tyrell. 

Late that same evening the king's body was found alone 
in the forest Avith an arrow through the heart. No one ever 
knew who shot that arrow. Sir Walter Tyrell had fled 
away, and it was thought by many that he shot the king by 
accident. But he always swore that it was not so, and that 
he only fled through fear of being suspected. His dead 
body was carried in a rough cart to Winchester, and buried 
in the cathedral there, without any prayers or sacred service. 

Robert might have ascended the throne had he been at 
hand ; but he had not returned from the crusade. And as 
William had been recently on good terms with his younger 
brother Henry, he was in England at the time, and had 
formed one of the hunting party. Without losing a moment 
of time, he seized on the royal treasures, which were still 
kept at Winchester, and succeeded in being chosen king. 

Henry was a far better man than William Rufus ; he was 
in some things more like his father, but better also than he. 
The "Chronicle" says, "A good man he was, and 
there was great awe of him. No man durst misdo Henr y *■ 
against another in his time. He made peace for man and 
beast." We can hardly realize all those words meant then. 
It is true that he had wars in France, but England itself 
was at peace ; so much so that " foreigners willingly resorted 
thither, as to the only haven of secure tranquillity." Above 
all things, he was inflexibly just, and though he was stern 
and unrelenting to his enemies, he put down tyrants and 
protected the poor. 

The English also felt more inclined towards Henry be- 
cause, in one sense, he might be called an Englishman. He 
was born in England, and he was brought up in the abbey 
or monastery of Abingdon. He was clever and well-edu- 
cated — wonderfully so for those days. He was sur named 
Beau-clerc, which is French for "fine scholar," a title which 
he is said to have earned by translating "vEsop's Fables" 
from Latin into French. No doubt his good education made 
him much more thoughtful, prudent, and reasonable than 
William Rufus. Beside his liking for boohs, he had some 
other tastes with which we can sympathize. William of 
Malmesbury says, " He was extremely fond of the Avonders 



156 OUEST's ENGLISH HISTORY. 

of distant countries ; begging with great delight, as I have 
observed, from foreign kings, lions, leopards, lynxes, or cam- 
els — animals which England does not produce," he grave- 
ly adds. " He had a park called Woodstock, in which he 
used to foster his favorites of this kind." So that he was 
the first to establish zoological gardens in England. 

Henry began his reign, as his brother had done, by making 
good promises; and he kept them much better. His prom- 
ises were published in what is called a "charter." 
charter "^ barter only meant a sheet of paper or parch- 
ment; but it has come to mean a formal statement 
of the rights and liberties of a people, or of a town, or of 
any body of men. Such a statement, when once reduced to 
writing, becomes a protection to the poor and a curb to the 
rich. This charter was of great value in a fight for freedom 
more than a century afterwards. He promised liberty to 
the Church, to the barons, and to the people ; and he made 
the barons promise to do as much for their under-men or 
vassals as he did for them. 

His next praiseworthy act was to call back the Archbishop 

Anselm, and to promise to be guided by his advice. Though 

he and the archbishop lived on the whole harmoniously, yet 

the disputes about Church matters did not cease. But, at 

least, Henry consented to have his long curls cut off! 

Next, he made a marriage which pleased them 

His mar- heartily. He chose for his wife the princess of 

Scotland, niece to the Etheling Edgar, and great 

granddaughter of Edmund Ironside, " of the true royal line 

of England," writes the pleased chronicler. 

This great compliment to the old royal family was very 
dear to the nation, though the French lords scornfully com- 
pared Henry and the. queen to an English farmer and his 
wife, and called them " Farmer Goderich and his cummer 
Godgifu," which are two old Anglo-Saxon names. William 
of Mahnesbury says that Henry " heard these taunts with a 
terrific grin ; " but he kept silence. His queen's name was 
Edith, but she had to take a French name now, and Mas 
called Matilda, as Henry's mother had been. This Matilda, 
the Conqueror's wife, was also descended in a collateral line 
from Alfred ; and through these two princesses all the Eng- 
lish kings and queens down to Queen Victoria can trace 
their pedigree to Egbert and Cerdic, and to the god Woden, 
if they like. 



THE CONQUEROR'S SONS. 157 

Matilda, like Henry, had been well educated for those 
times, and had been brought up in England, in a nunnery. 
"When she became queen she encouraged scholars to come to 
her court, and was very generous to them. Above every- 
thing she liked music, and was even " thoughtlessly prodi- 
gal," says William, towards people with melodious voices. 
She did not travel about with her husband, but had a palace 
at "Westminster, where scholars and musicians visited her. 
"This the king's liberality commanded ; this her own kind- 
ness and affability attracted. She was singularly holy ; by 
no means despicable in point of beauty." This rather faint 
praise makes us fancy she cannot have been remarkably hand- 
some ; but she was very good to the sick and poor, and very 
devout in going to church. 

Soon after Henry had established himself on the throne, 
and won the favor of the English, his brother Robert came 
home from the Crusades, and, of course, again wanted to get 
the kingdom of England. But Henry was wise, prudent, 
and determined, while Robert was good-natured, weak, and 
idle. " He forgot offences and forgave faults," writes Wil- 
liam of Malmesbury, "beyond what he ought to have done ; 
he answered all Avho applied to him exactly as they wished, 
and, that he might not dismiss them in sadness, promised to 
give what was out of his power." Thus "he so excited the 
contempt of the Normans that they considered him as of no 
consequence whatever!" So that, far from his getting Eng- 
land, he lost Normandy. It happened as William the Con- 
queror had foretold on his death-bed — Henry got all. 

It is impossible to defend the way Henry treated his 
brother ; and no one can help feeling sorry for Robert; but 
he was in no way fit to be a ruler of men. He was 
at last put in prison and kept there till the day of j» e v, th P f 
his death. There are two quite different accounts 
of the way he was treated : one, that he was very cruelly 
used, had his eyes put out, and at last died of a broken 
heart; the other, that he received great kindness and atten- 
tion, and was "provided with abundance of amusement and 
food." We may hope the last is the truth, but we do not 
know. He left a son, William, who made many efforts to 
get back his father's duchy ; but to no purpose, and he died 
young, leaving Henry the undisputed lord both of England 
and Normandy. 

During these conflicts Henry taught the English how to 



158 6UEST ? S ENOLISH HISTORY. 

fight against the Normans, who sided with Robert ; and es- 
pecially against the cavalry, to which they had been unac- 
customed. He went amongst the ranks himself, training and 
encouraging them, so that in time the English lost all fear 
of the French. 

Though these wars took place in France, England was 
heavily taxed to pay for them ; and there was a great deal 
of distress, owing to stormy seasons and bad harvests. 
Another grievance of which the people had to complain was 
the plundering by the king's followers when he travelled 
about. These people would enter the houses of the farmers 
and peasants, without permission, eat and drink whatever 
they could find, never offering to pay for it, and insult the 
owners and their wives and daughters in every shameful 
way. Whatever they could not eat they would carry off 
and sell, or even burn ; and what remained of the liquor 
which they could not drink they would wash their horses' 
legs with. Henry, after a time, put a stop to these practices, 
and punished some of the offenders severely ; but the coun- 
try people were still compelled to furnish certain things for 
the court without being paid for them. 

Still, on the whole, the English people were decidedly 
better off now than they had been under the two former kings. 
Improve- Besides their having learned to fight and to stand 
ment in their ground against the French, there was another 
tioVof 1 the thing in their favor. This" was, that the towns 
English, began to be larger, and richer, and of more conse- 
quence. Almost all the people in the towns were English, 
and by degrees they got many privileges, especially in Lon- 
don ; they were free from many of the taxes and the oppres- 
sions of the country, and they were allowed in many ways 
to govern themselves, as they are now. If Henry had left 
behind him a son as strong and sensible as himself, England 
would have begun to be counted among the leading nations 
of Europe again. 

But a bitter misfortune befell the king. His wife Matilda, 

who died in 1118, had left him one son and one daughter. 

The young prince, her son, was gay and wild, but 

Death of ne na ^ m nnu the germs of something brave and 

the king's oenerous. He was but nineteen, and might, it was 

son • 

to be hoped, grow into a wise man under his father s 
training and example. But in crossing over from France to 
England his vessel was wrecked. He with his voung com- 



THE CONQUEROR'S SONS. 159 

panions, and his half-sister, in trying to save whom he gave 
tip his own life, all perished together. Only one man of all 
the ship-load reached the land in safety. The king's happy 
days were over; they say he never smiled again. Though 
he was afterwards married again, he had no second son. 

He now tried to make his daughter Matilda, or Maude, his 
his heir. This would have been very difficult in any case, 
as it was an unheard-of thing, either in England or The Em _ 
France, for a woman to reign ; and what in the end press 
made it really impossible was, that Maude was an Maude, 
arrogant and unpopular woman, not at all like her mother. 
She had been married to the Emperor of Germany, but 
was now a widow. Her father made her marry a French 
prince, the Count of Aujou, and he then caused all the 
barons to swear that she should be queen, and they would 
be faithful to her after her father's death. The first who 
swore the oath was her cousin Stephen, son of Henry's sister 
Adela. 

Soon after the succession was settled, as he hoped, Henry 
died in France, but was brought to England to be n3 _ 
buried. That year there had been an eclipse of the Death of 
sun. "Men were greatly wonder-stricken and af- Henr y* 
frighted, and said that a great thing should come thereafter. 
So it did, for that same year the king died." 

No sooner was he dead than his strong hand was missed. 
'•'•Everij man that could," says the "Chronicle," '•'•forthwith 
robbed another? And if people had thought him stern, and 
complained of the taxes in his time, they very soon wished 
him back again ; for now came a time of such misery and 
trouble as had never yet been known. 

Though the lords had sworn that they would support 
Matilda, many of them at once deserted her. Her cousin 
Stephen, who in spite of his oaths came forward as 
a candidate for the throne, was a great contrast to Ste P hen - 
Matilda. She was haughty and overbearing; he was gay 
and pleasant. lie was ready to joke and feast in any com- 
pany, even of quite low people, and to make kind promises 
to any one, which, like his uncle Robert, he seldom fulfilled. 
But a great many people in England took his part, — among 
others, the citizens of London, who were grown so important 
now as to be looked upon almost as nobles. 

Matilda, on her side, had her uncle the king of Scotland, 
her half-brother the Earl of Gloucester (an illegitimate son 



160 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

of Henry), and a great many nobles. The Scotch army was 
soon beaten, but the Earl of Gloucester was not so 
ar * easily put down. He seems to have been a very 
courageous and clever man, and most faithful to his sister's 
cause. But as Stephen was first in the field, he was crowned 
king, and Matilda could never obtain the dignity. So this 
is called the reign of Stephen, though it was hardly a reign, 
but a long war. 

Like his predecessors, Stephen made promises of justice, 
mercy, and favor to the Church, and, in particular, he 
promised to the people the laws of Edward the Confessor. 
Though Edward the Confessor had not made any special 
laws, his reign was always looked back to by the English 
people as the one in which they had been peaceably governed 
by their old national law, and they always wished their new 
kings to be like Edward, whose weak points they had quite 
forgotten. But Stephen never kept these promises; perhaps 
he could not. The misery of the people reached its height 
while he was called king. 

In addition to the miseries of the civil war there was a 
general season cf domestic turbulence, and there was now 
no one who could restrain the barons from crime. 
Miseries. 'p] ie new cas tles were dens of tyrants and robbers. 
The account of this period, given in the "Chronicle," is one 
of the most terrible pages in English history, and we must 
read it as it stands there if we wish to realize it. The iron 
had entered into the soul of the man who wrote this: " They 
filled the land full of castles. They greatly oppressed .the 
wretched people by making them work at these castles: and 
when the castles were finished they filled them with devils 
and evil men. Then they took those whom they suspected 
to have any goods, by night and by day, seizing both men 
and women, and they put them in prison for their gold and 
silver, and tortured them with pains unspeakable, for never 
were any martyrs tormented as these were.' 1 Then he gives 
a most piercing description of the horrible tortures that were 
invented to force these innocent prisoners to give up their 
goods. After that he adds, " Many thousands they exhausted 
with hunger. I cannot and I may not tell of all the wounds 
and all the tortures that they inflicted upon the wretched 
men of this land ; and this state of things lasted the nineteen 
years that Stephen was king, and ever grew worse and 
worse. . . . Then was corn dear, and flesh, and cheese, and 



THE CONQUEKOlt'S SONS. 161 

butter, for there was none in the land; wretched men starved 
with hunger; some lived on alms who had erewliile been 
rich ; some fled the country ; never was there more misery, 
and never acted heathens worse than these. At length they 
spared neither church nor churchyard, but they took all 
that was valuable therein, and then burned the church and 
all together. . . . The bishops and clergy were ever cursing 
them, but this to them was nothing, for they were all accursed 
and foresworn and reprobate. The earth bare no corn, — 
you might as well have tilled the sea, — for the land was all 
ruined by such deeds ; and it was said openly that Christ and 
His saints slept." 

We must pass over the accounts of the battles and sieges. 
Once both Stephen and the Earl of Gloucester were in 
prison. Once Matilda herself was nearly made prisoner, 
and had to escape on foot through the snow, clad in white 
that she might not be seen. And so it went on 
through those wretched years, till at last every one P eace - 
was worn out, and through the exertions of the bishops and 
the Pope's legate a peace was made. 

Stephen was to remain king for his life. Matilda was 
never to be made queen ; but she received what, probably, 
she valued more, the promise that her son should be king in 
his turn ; for with all her faults she seems to have been a 
good mother. Stephen had lost his only son, and Matilda's 
son, who had been an infant when his grandfather died, was 
now a grown young man. For the present, Stephen adopted 
him as his son and heir, and the land was at peace. 

Now the soldiers were to be sent home ; the knights were 
to turn their swords into ploughshares and their spears into 
pruning-hooks ; the desolate country to be cultivated again; 
oxen, cows, and sheep were to be given to the poor farmers; 
thieves and robbers were to be hanged, and many 
other good resolutions were made. But Stephen 1154 ' 
did not live long enough to carry them out, even if he wished 
to do so. He died the next year. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

HENRY PLANTAGENET. 

Character of Henry. His marriage. His dominions. Distinction between Eng- 
lish and Normans disappears. Destruction of the castles. Condition of Ire- 
land. The Conquest. 

The Anglo-Saxon "Chronicle," which has been the guide 
and teacher of the historian through so many centuries, now 
conies to an end suddenly. No one wrote any more Eng- 
lish hooks of any sort, except a few sermons and the like, 
for fifty years, though there are very good ones in Latin. 

Some of the latest words in the " Chronicle " are about 
Henry, the son of Matilda, who was to be king after Ste- 
phen. "All folk loved him, for he did good justice and 
made peace." Thus England began to lift up her head in 
hope. 

Henry II. had a long reign of thirty-five years, and many 
important and interesting things happened in those years. 

1154 He was clever, like his grandfather, Henry I., and 

Henry's well brought up. His education had been looked 

character. after by h *. g jj u( . ]g Robertj Ear ] of Gloucester, who 

was as good a scholar as he was a soldier, if we may believe 
what his learned friends, of whom William of Malmesbury 
was one, say of him. There is a curious letter written about 
Henry by a man who knew him very well, and who had 
been tutor to the King of Sicily. lie says this latter had 
learned a good deal, but as soon as his tutor went away, "he 
threw away his books, and gave himself up to the usual 
idleness of palaces." Henry II. was very different from this. 
He never left off the habit of private reading, and he sur- 
rounded himself with learned men, and delighted in con- 
versing with them on difficult and interesting subjects, so 
that lie might have been called Beau-clerc also. He was 
wonderfully active and industrious. His habit was to travel 
so fast that the king of France, who was rather lazy, said of 
him, "He neither rides on land nor sails on water, but flies 

162 



HENRY PLANTAGEXET. 163 

through the air like a bird." He went through the country, 
as kings of old used to do, examining into affairs, and espe- 
cially as to how the judges did their duty. This must have 
been doubly necessary after those nineteen years of lawless- 
ness. 

"He never sits down," says the letter before referred to, 
" except on horseback, or when he is eating. He has for 
ever in his hands bows, swords, hunting-nets, or arrows, 
except he is at council or at his books ; " for, like all his 
family, he was fond of hunting and hawking. He was also 
very resolute and determined. If he once loved a person, 
he loved him always; and if he once disliked a person, 
hardly ever altered his mind. He was a good soldier, but, 
above all things, "glorious in peace, which he desires for 
his people as the most precious of earthly gifts. . . . No 
one is more gentle to the distressed, more affable to the 
poor, more overbearing to the proud. . . . No one could be 
more dignified in speaking, more cautious at table, more 
moderate in drinking, more splendid in gifts, more generous 
in alms." 

"With all this dignity and affability, he was subject to the 
most furious and undignified fits of passion. When in a 
rage he was more like a wild beast than a man ; his eyes, 
which were generally calm and dove-like, flashed fire and 
were like lightning; he would roll on the floor, striking and 
tearing whatever came in his way ; he would gnaw the very 
straw out of his bed. The princes of his race were all sub- 
ject to these uncontrollable and most unprincely rages; they 
believed that they were partly descended from a demon, and 
accounted for them in that way. 

From this description we should judge that Henry was 
likely to be a great king, but we should expect also that 
with that fierce temper he might meet with many misfor- 
tunes. His reign was indeed a grand one, but it cannot be 
said that his life was happy. 

He made one great and fatal mistake in the beginning of 
his career, and in a most important point, — his marriage. 
While still quite young, before he was king of Eng- 
land at all, he had married; not choosing a wise, Hismar- 
good, and loving wife, but one who, though not at 
all good, was very rich. She was older than he was ; she had 
already been married to the French king, and had behaved 
so wickedly that he was obliged to put her away ; but she 



164 GUE8T*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was the heiress of great lands in France, of Guienne and 
Poitou. This false step of his was the occasion of many of 
the misfortunes which came upon his later years. 

However, he obtained with his wife Eleanor her great 
inheritance, and so became one of the most powerful sover- 
eigns of the time. He had England and Normandy 
minions f'* om ^ liS mother and his grandfather, Maine and 
Anjou from his father, Poitou and Guienne from his 
wife. Thus England was but a part, and not the greatest 
part, of his dominions. Besides all these, he was over-lord 
(hi a certain way) of Scotland and Wales, and became also 
over-lord of Brittany in France. During his reign, too, a 
great part of Ireland was conquered, of which he also was 
over-lord. 

His surname, Plantagenet (plant of broom), grew to be 
very famous. It was thought meritorious for great men to 
take up some humble name as a sort of disguise ; and it is 
said that Henry's father had chosen to call himself by the 
name of this wild and common flower, and to wear it as a 
badge in his hat. 

We read that when Henry Plantagenet became King of 
England "all folk loved him." One of the first things he 
did was to pull down an immense number of those terrible 
castles. It has been said that he destroyed eleven hundred 
of them. What a weight of misery was lifted off the land! 
Henry brought the lords of all the castles which were left to 
be obedient to him and to the laws, and he established justice 
and peace everywhere. 

The nation was now happy and united. It was nearly a 
hundred years since the battle of Hastings. Nobody living 
n . f could remember it. Only a few old men must have 
English BtiD lived who had, perhaps, seen William the Con- 
and Nor- queror in their young days, or recollected the ravag- 
mans. m g f Northumberland. It no longer seemed as if 
there were two different nations living in England.* So 
many Norman gentlemen had married the daughters of 
Englishmen that the distinction was almost forgotten. The 
sons of those marriages, living in their English mothers' and 
English grandfathers' home, surrounded by their property 
and servants, must have felt like Englishmen. The king 

* This is rather an over-favorable statement. The poems of Lang- 
land and Chaucer two centuries later show that the two races were 
even then measurahly distinct. — Ed. 



HENRY PLAN TAG EN ET. 165 

was clearly not an Englishman, but neither was lie exactly a 
Norman, for his father was the Count of An jou ; but he 
belonged partly to both, for lie was the great-grandson of 
William the Xorman, and the grandson of the English 
Matilda. 

Still the two languages went on. The lords and the 
bishops and the courtiers were mostly accustomed to talk 
French, as their fathers and grandfathers had done, but they 
were nevertheless called Englishmen. The poor men in the 
country all talked English still — the old-fashioned English, 
which is sometimes called Anglo-Saxon. But most of the 
people, perhaps all, except in this very lowest class, could 
talk both languages, or could at least understand them when 
they heard them spoken. 

Henry might have been content with his many titles and 
possessions, but he set his heart upon conquering Ireland. 
Strange to say, he obtained permission from the 
Pope to do this. Henry was not disposed to re an ' 
humble himself before the Church, and we might well won- 
der what the Pope could have had to do with this matter; 
but it was doubtless because of his claim to be the lord of 
all islands that Henry applied for his sanction. 

It is strange that up to this time there has been so little 
mention of this great island, so near a neighbor to England. 
Now and then there is little hint or fragment of information 
about it, but that is all. Hundreds of years before, Ireland 
had been noted for holiness and learning. While our fore- 
fathers were still heathen barbarians, the Irish were devoted 
to Christianity, and had sent missionaries to England. Ire- 
land indeed was called "the isle of saints. 1 ' But by this 
time they had fallen from their high estate, their Christianity 
had sunk into superstition, and their learning had vanished 
quite away. 

The Irish had had their share of trouble with the Dams, 
and a great many had settled down in the country. Once 
Harold had taken refuge there in the days of Edward the 
Confessor. We know, to<>, that the English used to sell 
slaves to Ireland from the market at Bristol. But on the 
whole there was not much intercourse between the two 
islands. 

Now, however, the English and their king bsgan to take 
an interest in the affairs of Ireland, and to covet the " eme- 
rald isle" for themselves. We have an account of this, 



166 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

written (in Latin) by an archdeacon named Gerald, or Giral- 
dus,* who was chosen by Henry IL as tutor to one of his 
sons, and who was a near relation to some of the knights 
who fought in Ireland. lie also went there himself, and 
related what he saw, and a great deal more that he heard,. 
What he says of his own knowledge we may readily believe, 
but the things which were told him, and which he accepted 
as true, are truly astonishing and ludicrous. He was quite 
prepared to believe that men and women were sometimes 
changed into wild beasts. He tells a story of some be- 
nighted travellers who were greatly alarmed by a wolf com- 
ing up and speaking to them. The wolf, seeing they were 
frightened, "added some orthodox words, referring to God." 
The said wolf, after a great many other strange tilings, 
"gave them his company during the whole night at the fire, 
behaving more like a man than a beast," and telling them 
that he had been punished for his sins by being turned from 
a man into a wolf by a saint in the neighborhood. 

But the facts which he relates of his own knowledge seem 
perfectly accurate, and show him to have been a good ob- 
server and reasoner. 

The Irish people were at this time in a very savage condi- 
tion. It will be remembered that they were of the Celtic 
family, nearly allied to the Welsh (or ancient Brit- 

Th eo Ir ie Sh ons )' aml tn ' e Scotch Highlanders. Though they 
had learned the Christian religion many hundred 
years ago, their Christianity had now fallen so low as to have 
little influence upon life. They had made hardly any pro- 
gress in civilization. In some of the more remote parts they 
knew nothing of Christianity, nor did they even know how 
to till the ground, to plough, to sow, or to make bread. 
Like the old Britons, what little clothing they had was made 
of skins. They lived on flesh, fish, and milk, ami had never 
seen either bread or cheese. Some of these wild men fell in 
with a few sailors from England, and, when they separated, 
got from them a loaf and a cheese, that they might astonish 
their countrymen by the sight of the provisions the stran- 
gers ate. They had never been baptized, nor heard of the 
name of Christ. 

Even in the more civilized parts they did but little in 
the way of tillage, though the ground was very fertile ; nor 

* Giraldus Cambrensis, Gerald of Cambria, i. e. Wales. 



HENKY PLANT AG ENET. 167 

would they take much trouble in planting fruit-trees. Work 
of any sort, indeed, was highly disagreeable to them. This 
is what Giraldus says of their character: "Whatever nat- 
ural gifts they possess are excellent, but in whatever re- 
quires industry they are worthless." The one thing about 
which they would take pains was music, and in that he says 
"they were incomparably mure skilful than any other nation 
I have ever seen." They played on two instruments, the 
harp and the tabor, which is a sort of little drum. 

One might have thought this taste and love for music 
would have tamed and softened their nature, but they seem 
to have been extremely cruel and ferocious. In the war 
with the English, which Giraldus describes, one of the Irish 
kings, on whose side the English were fighting, had a heap 
of his enemies' heads laid before him, two hundred in num- 
ber; and he "turned them over one by one in order to rec- 
ognize them, thrice lifted his hands to heaven in the excess 
of his joy, and with a loud voice returned thanks to God 
most high. Amongst them was the head of one he mortally 
hated above all the rest, and, taking it up by the ears and 
hair, he tore it with his teeth." 

Ireland was at that time divided into five kingdoms, the 
kings of which were always at variance and generally at 
war. At last one of them, Dermot, the king of Leinster, 
Avas driven out of his dominions altogether, and thereupon 
bethought him of getting help from the powerful king of 
England. He accordingly crossed over to Bristol, but find- 
ing that Henry was now in the south of France, he travelled 
after him there, and, obtaining an audience, he promised that 
if Henry would take his part and set him back in his king- 
dom he would own him for Ids lord, and become his vassal. 

At that time Henry could not attend to this business him- 
self, but he gave the Irish king leave to seek help among his 
subjects, and gave any of his subjects who chose to help him 
full permission to do so. Dermot accordingly re- llgg 
turned to England, and found helpers, the principal Earl' 
of whom was the Earl of Pembroke, generally Stron ^ bow - 
called Richard Strongbow. He and some other English and 
Welsh noblemen and gentlemen — the cousins of Giraldus 
among them — went over to Ireland with their men. Though 
they were all of Norman descent, on the father's side at 
least, that name was quite dropped now, and Giraldus 
always calls them the English. 



108 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

After some hard fighting and much cruelty they con- 
quered their opponents. One instance will show how hard- 
hearted many of the English or Anglo-Normans still were. 
After taking the town of Waterford, they had in their hands 
seventy prisoners, the principal men of the town. There 
was a discussion among the leaders what should be done 
with these men. One of them, named Raymond, wished to 
be merciful, and allow them to be ransomed; but another, 
having made a fierce speech demanding their death, his 
comrades approved of it, and the wretched prisoners had 
their bones broken, and were then thrown into the sea 
and drowned. 

After these successes, Richard Strongbow married Der- 
mot's daughter Eva, and when, not long after, Dermot died, 
Strongbow, in right of his wife, became king of Leinster. 
But this was not pleasing to Henry II., who wished to be king 
himself, and accordingly Strongbow thought it prudent to 
give up the kingship to his master; Henry allowing him, in 
return, to keep very large possessions for himself. 

Whilst this was going on, and the English were gaining 
more and more the mastery, the clergy of Ireland held an 
assembly, in which they agreed that their troubles were a 
punishment sent on the Irish by God for their sins, and, 
above all, for the wicked trade in slaves which they had so 
long carried on with the English, and it was therefore de- 
creed that all the English slaves in the country should be set 
at liberty. This is the last time that we hear of the slave- 
trade in England. 

Henry at last found time to visit Ireland, and nearly all 
the kings and chiefs of the country, especially Roderic of 
Connaught, who was the head of all, submitted to 
Submission nun as their over-lord, and did him homage. This 
of the Irish whs about Christmas time, and many of the Irish 
princes, p rmces came ^ Dublin to visit the king, "and 
were much astonished at the sumptuousness of his enter- 
tainments, and the splendor of his household." It is said 
that a large hall was built on purpose -for the king to hold 
his court. It reminds us of the ancient Britons (relations of 
the Irish) to hear that this hall was built, " after the fashion 
of the country," of white wicker-work, peeled osiers, — for 
we remember the "palaces" of the Britons, and their first 
little Christian church at Glastonbury. Wicker-work dwell- 
ings seem to have been peculiar to the Celtic races. 



HENRY PLANTAGENET. 169 

King Henry received and feasted the Irish chieftains, and 
Jjiraldus says that at these feasts they learned to eat cranes, 
" which before they loathed." lie stayed in Ireland a few 
months, and, as he had done in England, restored peace and 
order. With the help of the clergy he also made many laws 
for improving the habits of the people. But after Th E 
he went away things soon became as bad as ever, lish set- 
and the English noblemen who remained behind ers " 
grew almost as savage and wild as the natives. They estab- 
lished themselves chiefly along the eastern and southern 
coast, and the part where they lived was afterwards called 
"The Pale." They and the native Irish hated each other 
bitterly for a time, though afterwards the English allied 
themselves to their wild neighbors, and became, as was said, 
"more Irish than the Irish." 

It does not appear that any lasting good came of the con- 
quest of Ireland, such as it was, except that Henry added 
another lordship to his titles. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



CHURCH AND STATE. 



Disputes between Church and State. Investitures. Ecclesiastical courts. 
Thomas a- Becket — as chancellor — as archbishop. Excommunication. 
Death of Becket. He is looked on as a saint. Henry does penance. 

Before the Norman Conquest there had never been .any 
disputes between the king and the church ; the king, 
Disputes. t j Je ear j Sj an( j t ] ie thanes had agreed perfectly well 
with the archbishops and bishops. Xo one had ever thought 
of any distinction between church and state. Very little was 
heard of the Pope, except when an archbishop had to go to 
Pome for his pall, as a sort of token that he was the head or 
principal bishop, and that the Church of England owned his 
supremacy. 

But things were much changed now, and there were great 
disputes and fierce quarrels between the king and the 
church. This was not because there was any difference in 
their religious opinions. In the time of the Protestant 
Reformation, several centuries later, there were such differ- 
ences; but at the time Ave are speaking of, the king, the 
lords, and all the people believed as the Pope and the clergy 
did, and the disputes were wholly about power and mastery. 

The first matter of dispute was whether the bishops and 
The kim? nrt 'hbishops were subjects of the king or of the Pope, 
and the This had begun to be a matter of contention be- 
bishops. t ween Henry I. and Anselm, but as they were both 
moderate and reasonable, they did not come to an open quar- 
rel. The king demanded that they should do homage to him 
like the other great lords, and that he should have the power 
of giving them the ring and staff, which were the signs of 
their office, as the old kings of England had always done. 
But the Pope had now begun to claim this power for himself 
or his legate, and to say that the king had no right at all to 
the homage of the spiritual lords. 

The other matter in dispute was with regard to the juris- 

170 



CHUUCH AND STATE. 171 

diction of the courts of law over the clergy. In the time of 
William the Conqueror there was a separate ecclesiastical 
court, but the plan had not worked well. Henry Theeccles- 
II. determined that if a clergyman committed a iastical 
crime he should be tried by the judge of the seen- courts - 
lar court, and punished as any other man would be. The 
clergy would not hear of this ; neither they nor their bishops 
would submit to be under the temporal power, as it was 
called. 

By this time the rule of the celibacy of the clergy was 
quite established. This rule, as we know, had been intro- 
duced by Dunstan about two hundred years before. But 
the contest had gone on even up to the time of Henry I., 
who was inclined to take the part of the married clergy. 
The "Chronicle " has an account of a great council in Lon- 
don, A. D. 1129, consisting of bishops, abbots, and other 
churchmen. "When it came forth, it was all about arch- 
deacons' wives, and priests' wives, that they should leave 
them by St. Andrew's mass; and he who would not do that 
should forego his church, and his house, and his home. 
This ordained the Archbishop of Canterbury, and all the 
suffragan bishops who were then in England ; and the king 
gave them all leave to go home, and so they went home; 
and all the decrees stood for nought ; all held their wives 
by the king's leave, as they did before." But this did not 
last much longer; and now the clergy were all unmarried, 
or if any of them had wives it was kept quite secret, and 
the wives were insultingly called " concubines." 

If the bishops owed primary allegiance to the Pope before 
the king and the clergy were amenable to the ecclesiastical 
courts, and not to the king's judges, then the clerical body 
constituted a nation in the heart of the nation. And with- 
out wives and families they would have few ties to bind 
them to the community in which they lived. Henry loved 
power, and stood on his prerogative. He yielded the ques- 
tion of the celibacy of the clergy, but he was determined 
not to sanction the independence of the bishops and their 
courts from the laws of the realm. There could not be two 
masters in England. 

Before going farther into the history of this strife, it is 
well to notice that in the end, and after a contest of many 
hundred years, the English nation decided that the king (or 
the civil power) was supreme. The great principles that 



172 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Henry I. and Henry II. strove for are now the law of the land. 

But at that time there was less intelligence, and the people 

almost always sided with the clergy and the Church against 

the king and the State. 

There were powerful reasons for the popularity of the 

clergy. In spite of the pride of the popes and the higher 

clergy, and though many of the lower clergy were very 

mi. ™, \. different from what they should have been, still on 
The Church , , , . , , J '.. . ., 

and the the whole the churchmen were more merciful and 

people. m ore just than the laymen. We have heard much 

of the tyranny and barbarity of the barons and soldiers. 

The clergy did what they could to check and over-awe the 

tyrants, and to protect the helpless and poor. We saw that 

it was greatly through the exertions of the bishops that the 

peace was made at last between Stephen and Matilda. 

The Church was also a safeguard and a refuge in those 
days of fighting and plundering, by affording the 
Sanctuary, j.jg]^ f sanctuary. If a person were pursued by 
his enemies, and in danger of being seized and killed, he 
might take shelter in a church or churchyard or other 
sacred place, and no one would venture to touch him. To 
hurt or kill any one in a church was considered an unpar- 
donable ciime ; and many a poor creature's life was saved 
in that way from ruffians, who would know neither pity nor 
fear in any other place. It had been one of the worst out- 
rages in the days of Stephen that " they spared neither 
church nor churchyard." 

Again, in those ecclesiastical courts which Henry wished 
to put down, they not only tried offending priests, 
iscip me. mit magged ^ extend jurisdiction over many other 
people too. For instance, any one who could write in those 
days, was looked on as a clerk, or learned person, and could 
be tried by these courts. This was a great boon, because 
the punishments were not nearly so severe as in the ei\ il 
courts. There was no putting out eyes or maiming ; they 
never went beyond beating and imprisonment. Moreover, 
the clergy were always known as the protectors of widows 
and orphans. 

Though there were no schools for poor people, and not 

many for the rich, and though the Church services were said 

in Latin, yet the clergy took some pains to teach 

Teaching. tne people. There were no Bibles; yet they knew 

a good deal about the Scripture stories. And they did not 



CHURCH AND STATE. 173 

learn by sermons, as we should have expected, for it seems 
that there were very few sermons preached in churches for 
the people, but only in monasteries for the monks. 
One way was, that all the church walls were cov- Plctures - 
ered with pictures ; very often of the Bible histories, but 
sometimes of the lives of the saints. Almost all these old 
pictures have perished in England, though some of the very 
churches are still standing. But the pictures have either 
faded away or have been whitewashed over. 

A very old writer and saint, who was defending the use 
of pictures in churches, to which some people in his days 
objected, just as many English people do now, wrote thus: 
" I am too poor to possess books ; I have no leisure for read- 
ing; I enter the church, choked with the cares of the 
world; the glowing colors attract my sight and delight my 
eyes like a flowery meadow, and the glory of God steals 
imperceptibly into my soul ; I gaze on the fortitude of the 
martyr, and the crown with which he is rewarded, and the 
fire of holy emulation kindles within me, and I fall down 
and worship God. . . ." 

But the priests had another way of teaching the same 
things, which was by the acting of mysteries and miracle- 
plays. The play was a scene out of the Bible, or 

the life of a saint; the actors were clers^vmen and T1 ), e sacred 

i -iii i i " mi • drama, 

acolytes, and the theatre was a church. Ihis was 

Avhen the practice was first begun. On some special occasion 
or festival, when part of the prayers had been read, the clergy 
and choristers would act a sacred drama. After a time, in 
order that more people might see it, they would have a stage 
in the churchyard and act it there. They would perform 
the creation of the world, the fall of Adam, Cain and Abel, 
Noah building the ark, etc. ; and again, the shepherds of 
Bethlehem, with the angel, the wise men from the East, the 
crucifixion, etc. At appropriate places some doctor or 
expositor would come forward to explain what was being 
represented, would preach a short sermon, or give advice to 
the people. 

They took a great deal of pains with these plays. When 
they acted the Creation, in order to show the making of the 
birds and beasts, they collected as many strange animals as 
they could get alive, and turned them loose ; or they would 
let fly a flock of pigeons. They dressed in the best cos- 
tumes they could manage; some were dressed for angels 



174 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOBY. 

and some for devils. Those who acted saints had gilded 
wigs and beards to look like a glory ; the angels had white 
robes and Mings; the devil had a dress of leather, covered 
with hair and feathers, and ending at the hands and feet in 
claws. 

After a time the rich tradesmen got up plays of the same 
kind, which were acted in the streets or open places; and 
they continued to be very popular for nearly five hundred 
years. The plays founded on Bible history were called 
"Mysteries," and those from the lives of the saints "Mira- 
cles." Though this was all done very seriously, and some 
of it made as impressive as possible, they had here and there 
a little amusement. There was one great joke about Noah's 
wife, because she would not go into the ark ; and there was 
also a little jesting among the shepherds in the field before 
the angel came to sing. Fragments of these old plays are 
still rudely acted in old-fashioned places at Christmas time. 
These performances must have been a great excitement and 
delight to the people in those days, Avhen they had no books, 
and so little to interest or amuse them. 

All these reasons had weight in inducing the people to 
side witli the Church in the great struggle that followed. 

Henry II., being determined to get the mastery of the 
Church, took the opportunity of the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury's death to appoint to that high post a special 
T ^°™ a friend and favorite of his own, thinking that he 
would be a great help to him in carrying out his 
plans. This favorite was Thomas a Becket, a very famous 
man, well-known through the world. 

Of course he Avas a clergyman, or he could not have been 
made an archbishop ; but he was only a deacon, which is the 
lowest rank, and he had hardly lived as a church- 
Th t'er Ur " man at a ^* ^ e was Henry's chancellor, his confi- 
dential adviser, and intimate friend. Many stories 
are told of his magnificence. At one time he was sent as 
ambassador to France, ami he travelled in such a gorgeous 
style that the astonished French people exclaimed, " What 
manner of man must the king of England be, since his chan- 
cellor travels in this fashion ! " In the procession which 
attended him, besides knights, squires, grooms, and singing- 
boys, there were hounds and hawks, wagon-loads of plate 
and other luxuries, and, strangest of all, twelve monkeys on 
horseback. There seems to have been a strange liking for 



CHURCH AND .STATE. 1(0 

these grotesque creatures in the midst of pomp and splendor ; 
they were perhaps looked on as a kind of foil. 

The house he lived in was so large and handsome that it 
might be called a palace. He used to receive numbers of 
guests of all ranks, and feast them with the choicest food 
and wine, served in gold and silver vessels by attendants 
finely dressed. Sometimes there would be so many visitors 
that there was not room for them at table. So the chancellor 
gave orders that the floor of the apartment should be strewed 
with fresh hay or straw every day, in order that the visitors 
who had to sit on the floor might not spoil their handsome 
clothes. This spreading of clean straw or of fresh green 
rushes every day, was looked on as another specimen of 
Becket's extravagance. 

This was the man whom Henry appointed Archbishop of 
Canterbury, expecting that he woult assist him in bringing 
the clero-y under the law. But he was bitterly dis- 
appointed. No sooner was Becket made arch- 
bishop, than he altered his whole way of life. He was a 
man who could do nothing by halves. Having gone to the 
extreme in the character of a man of the world, he 
would now go to the extreme in that of a saint. The saiat * 
He dismissed his fine servants, his cooks and cup-bearers ; 
he put away all his gay clothing and dainty living ; he sur- 
rounded himself with monks and beggars (whose feet he 
washed every day) ; he clothed himself in dirty sackcloth, 
ate the coarsest food, and drank bitter water. 

Some people believe that he did all this for show and 
notoriety; but, to do him justice, it ought to be remembered 
that part, at least, of it he kept secret. It was not known 
till after his death that he wore the hair-shirt, and that lie 
was scourged every day. He no doubt thought, according 
to the spirit of the time, that he was pleasing God by using 
his body so ill ; and it was partly on account of this austerity, 
and the extreme dirtiness of the sackcloth, that he was first 
called a saint. 

Now it was that Henry found out his mistake. Instead 
of taking the king's part, the new archbishop at once begun 
to oppose him. Henry's principal plans for bring- 
ing the clergy under the control of the State and 1164, 
the general law of the land were put into writing at a great 
council which he held at Clarendon, and they were called the 
"Constitutions of Clarendon." Becket was persuaded to 



176 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

give his consent to tlicm; but he did it in such a grudging 
and unwilling way that every one thought he was only trying 
to gain time, and was acting deceitfully. Immediately after- 
wards he sent to ask forgiveness of the Pojie for having con- 
sented at all. 

In the long disputes that went on between the king and 
Becket, each thought, no doubt, he had the right on his side ; 
to this very hour people are divided about it. There is no 
doubt that Becket was very proud and obstinate, but he 
believed that he Avas fighting the battle of the Church and 
of God, and there is something grand about his courage 
which one cannot help admiring. Besides, on the theory 
of the Papal Church, lie was in the right. 

At one time he had to flee from the country in disguise, 
and remained a long while abroad. While he was away a 
fresh grievance occurred. The king, who had seen 
Becket in } low much misery and trouble were caused by a 
disputed succession, resolved to do more than even 
his grandfather had done. Instead of making every one 
swear oaths to obey his son after his own death, he deter- 
mined to have him crowned king during his lifetime. The 
crowning of the king of England had always been consid- 
ered the especial right of the Archbishop of Canterbury, but 
he being now out of the country, the Archbishop of York 
was called on to perform the ceremony in his stead, to the 
great indignation of Becket. Before this time there had 
often been discussions between York and Canterbury as to 
which should be the greatest. Nor was the dispute settled 
even after Becket's death ; for the two next archbishops had 
such a quarrel about it, at a great meeting of the clergy, that 
their partisans came to lighting with fists, sticks, and staves; 
"while the Archbishop of York, in struggling to get the 
place of honor from the Archbishop of Canterbury, fairly 
sate down in his lap." It is to be seen much of " poor human 
nature" was mingled in these great religious conflicts. 

We are not to suppose that while Becket was abroad he 
could do no mischief in England. He had a terrible power, 

m. which the Church claimed in those days, and which 

rhe power , . ... « r ' . . 

of excom- kept the most stout-hearted in awe. llus was the 
mumcation. p 0wer f excommunication. There were two sorts 
of excommunication, the greater and the less. The less even 
was a very serious punishment, as it prevented the excom- 
municated person from i - eceiving any of the sacraments, or 



CHURCH AND STATE. 177 

from holding any office in the State ; hut the greater one, 
which was only used in desperate cases, was far more horrible. 
We can hardly realize what it meant at the time. The 
person who fell under the " anathema," or greater excommu- 
nication, was cursed in body and soul, at home and abroad, 
going out and coming in, in towns and streets, fields and 
meadows, by land and water, sleeping and waking, standing, 
sitting, and lying down, speaking and silent, day and night. 
The heavens were to be as brass to him, and the earth as 
iron. God was prayed to afflict him with hunger and thirst, 
with poverty and want, with cold and fever, with blindness 
and madness. All things belonging to him were cursed, even 
the dog which guarded him and the cock which waked him. 
No one was to take pity on him or to help him ; his dead 
body was to be thrown to dogs and wolves, and his soul to 
be eternally tormented. 

However terrible it would be to hear words like these 
uttered by any one, not to say by a minister of Christ the 
Merciful, we should know they could do no harm to any 
one but the man who spoke them ; but at this time every one 
believed that the curse would be fulfilled. 

While Becket was abroad he pronounced excommunication 
on several of the king's servants, and every one thought the 
next thing would be that he would excommunicate the king 
himself. Henry fell into one of his fearful rages when he 
heard of it; he tore off his clothes and threw them about 
the room, he rolled on the floor, and gnawed the straw and 
rashes with which it was strewed. 

After a time a peace was patched up, and Becket was 
allowed to return to England. He did not return in a 
peaceful spirit, however, for he was still greatly 
enraged at the Archbishop of York for having re^n 1 '* 5 
crowned the young Prince Henry; and he had got 
letters from the Pope excommunicating him and two other 
bishops who had assisted at the ceremony. The people 
crowded to meet Becket, giving him a joyful welcome, and 
blessing him as coming in the name of the Lord ; but the 
bishops who had been excommunicated went across the sea 
to the king, who was now in Prance. It is not surprising 
that Henry was enraged. He was seized with another of his 
ungovernable fits of fury, crying out at the cowards that he 
nourished at his table, and sayiug, "Will no man deliver me 
from this proud piiest?" Bitterly he repented those words 



1V8 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

afterwards, but he could never recall them, nor undo the deed 
they wrought. 

Four knights, hearing the words, and over-eager to fulfil 
his will, hastened to Canterbury, where the archbishop was 
already smarting under a series of insults. It is a curious 
sign of how the old pride of the man of the world still lived 
under the sackcloth of the saint, that one of these insults 
which he felt most keenly, and even referred to in the last 
sermon he ever preached, was that some of his enemies had 
cut off the tails of his horses. 

When the knights arrived there was a stormy interview ; 
the archbishop's friends and servants were alarmed, but his 
own spirit only rose the higher. They implored him to take 
refuge in the cathedral, but he waited till the hour when it 
was his duty to attend the evening service, nor would he 
then go in haste, but with all his usual dignity. Neither 
would he permit the doors of the cathedral to be closed, 
saying, with the pride of a Christian priest, that "the 
church should not be turned into a castle." The knights 
rushed in, crying out through the darkness, " Where is the 
traitor?" Receiving no answer, they exclaimed, "Where is 
the archbishop ? " 

Becket at once came forward in his white robes and con- 
fronted them, saying, " I am no traitor, but the arch- 

tt 11 7°Vi, bishop and priest of God." There was a short 
His death. i . i .. . . , . t-> i 

struggle, and after receiving many blows, Becket, 

commending his soul to God, fell dead near the altar. 

But by his death he won the victory. It is impossible to 
describe the horror which this murder caused, not only 
throughout England, but through great part of Europe. 
The sacrilege (that is, the murder having been committed in 
the church), the archbishop's courage and dignity, the finding 
of his hair-shirt hidden under his clothes, the admiration of 
the common people and the monks, all together combined 
to raise Becket to the rank of a martyred saint. When the 
king heard what had happened he was appalled at the con- 
sequences of his hasty words. He shut himself up, robed 
himself in sackcloth and ashes, refused food, and called God 
to witness that he was in no way guilty of the archbishop's 
death. He continued shut up for five weeks, continually 
crying, Alas ! alas ! 

The Pope, on his part, shut himself up in grief and anger. 
There was great fear that he would excommunicate the kino;. 



CHURCH AND STATE. 179 

of England. Henry's proud spirit was so broken that lie 
sent messengers and made a most humble submission to the 
Pope, renouncing the "Constitutions of Clarendon," and 
yielding all the points about which he and Becket had con- 
tested. After this, and while he was in France, the Pope 
granted him absolution. 

But this submission and this absolution were not enough. 
Great troubles were gathering around the king. His sons 
rebelled against him; his wife took their part. Some of the 
English barons revolted ; they were, indeed, very angry at 
having their castles destroyed, and being kept under such 
strict control by the king. The Scotch invaded the north 
of England. The Earl of Flanders, with Prince Henry, 
was about to invade it on the east. It was universally 
believed — and by Henry as well — that all this trouble came 
as a punishment for Becket's murder, and that he had not yet 
humbled himself enough. There had been a terrible storm 
in the winter, and when the people heard the rolling thunder 
they thought that the blood of" St. Thomas was calling to 
God for vengeance. 

Henry returned to England, resolved to do what he could 
to appease the martyr. He landed at Southampton, and 
immediately began to live on bread and water. 1174 
He rode first to Canterbury, and when he came in The king's 
sight of the cathedral towers he dismounted from P enance - 
his horse and went on foot. As soon as he reached the city 
he cast off his usual dress and put on that of a penitent, — 
a woollen shirt and a coarse cloak. He walked barefoot 
through the crowded streets, marking the rough stones with 
his blood, till he reached the cathedral gates. Then he 
knelt, prayed, groaned, and we] it by Becket's tomb. He 
took off the cloak and was scourged with a rod by all the 
bishops and abbots who were present, and by each 
of the eighty monks. After all this he was declared His pardon * 
to be fully pardoned; but he spent the whole night barefoot 
and fasting within the cathedral. 

When he got back to London he fell into a dangerous 
fever. But a very strange thing happened ; what we should 
now call a " coincidence," but which then appeared like 
a miracle. The penance had been done and suffered on a 
Saturday. On the next Thursday at midnight, as the king- 
lay ill in his bed, a loud knocking was heard at the gates. 
It was a messenger from the north, who insisted on being 



180 GDEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

taken to the king's chamber. He brought news that the 
royal array had gained a great victory on that very Saturday, 
and that the king of Scotland was taken prisoner. The 
astonished king sprang, overjoyed, from his bed, and with a 
full heart returned thanks to God and St. Thomas. On the 
very same Saturday the fleet with which the Earl of Flan- 
ders and young Henry intended to invade the kingdom was 
driven back. 

The belief in those days in the power of the saints was 
still quite as strong as when Canute strove to appease the 
martyred Edmund and Alphege. Though Becket, we can- 
not doubt, was honest and conscientious in his aims, he was 
very far indeed from our present idea of a saint; but in 
the esteem of that time he was one of the very greatest the 
world ever saw. 

A splendid shrine was made to contain his bones, and 
people flocked from all parts to visit it and pray to the 
martyr. It is said that "glorious miracles" were 
irac es. wroU oi 1 t at his tomb ; sick people were cured, the 
dumb spoke, the blind saw, even the dead were raised to life. 
One miracle, if not very "glorious," was at least very 
strange. The king of France came on a pilgrimage to Can- 
terbury " to implore the patronage of the blessed martyr ; " 
and this was the first time a king of France had ever set 
foot on English ground. He gave very handsome offerings 
to the holy place, and to the monks a valuable golden cup, 
and one hundred tuns of wine ; but while he w r as praying, the 
archbishop noticed on his finger a magnificent ring, with 
a splendid jewel in it. The archbishop (very modestly) 
begged the king to present this ring to the shrine. The 
king, however, not being willing to part with it, offered 
instead a hundred thousand florins, with which the arch- 
bishop was fully satisfied. "But scarcely had the refusal 
been uttered, when the stone leaped from the ring and 
fastened itself to the shrine, as if a goldsmith had fixed it 
there." The miracle of course convinced the king, who left 
the jewel and the florins as Avell ; and the gem was the 
grandest ornament of the shrine, which was all blazing with 
gold, diamonds, sapphires, and emeralds. The Canterbury 
pilgrimages afterwards formed the basis of one of the most 
famous books in the English language. 

In foreign lands as well as in England, Becket's fame 
spread far and wide, as the hero and martyr of the Church, 



CHURCH AND STATE. 181 

and foreigners were anxious for relics of the saint. Parts of 
his arms, teeth, and brains were long treasured up in Rome, 
Florence, Lisbon, and many other places. His fame even 
reached the distant island of Iceland ; and in the thirteenth 
century his life was translated out of Latin into Icelandic, 
for the benefit of the people of that country. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE SONS OF HENRY. 

Henry's family troubles. His death. Richard Cceur-de-Lion. Chivalry. Rich- 
ard's absence from England. John Sans-terre. Prince Arthur. Loss of 
Normandy. 

After the strange events of his day of penance Henry's 
spirit revived ; he felt that lie was pardoned ; his health re- 
turned ; and he put himself at the head of an army. 
Henry The English people gathered round him, and the 
prospers. reyo j^. Q f t j ie Darong was p U t d uwn without a blow. 

The truth was that the nation was really faithful, and 
attached to the king's government. It was only some of 
the older nobility, who had lands in Normandy, and were 
still Normans in feeling, who rebelled. The other barons, 
who had English sympathies, nearly all the bishops, and the 
great towns stood firm on the king's side now that he was 
no longer fighting in a matter which touched their religion. 
Thus after his pressing danger he rose stronger than ever. 

Nor did he entirely give up his schemes for the control of 
the Church and the clergy ; he carried out many of his prin- 
ciples still, though the " Constitutions of Clarendon " had 
been renounced ; and matters were left somewhat undecided, 
as they so often were, each party having to give and take in 
turn. 

But the king's troubles were not over yet. All the later 

years of his life were made miserable by the ingratitude and 

rebellion of his sons. Considering what his mar- 

♦L^Z riage had been, it is not wonderful that his domes- 
troubles. . & ... ' „. , _,, 

tic life was so unhappy. One son after another 

rebelled ; he forgave them again and again ; but they broke 

his heart at last. As this happened mostly in France, we 

cannot enter into the details. Henry, who was to have been 

king of England, died young, before his father. Geoffrey, 

the second, who had been married to the heiress of Brittany, 

also died. Richard, the third, was as undutiful as his bro- 

182 



THE SONS OF HKXi;V. 183 

thevs. The worst and youngest, John, w:is Ins father's favorite ; 
Henry said he was the only one who had never rebelled 
against him. When, at last, the forlorn and aged king found 
that John too was a traitor, and had sided with his enemies, 
it was his death-blow. He cared for nothing more 
in the world, and died. One of his illegitimate Hls death " 
children was alone faithful to him, and tended his last 
hours. 

The next king of England reigned for ten years. In all 
that time he was only in England twice, and then but for a 
few months. He could hardly be regarded as an 
Englishman at all. Yet he is even to this day a p 1 }!- 9 ,!! 
popular king. Every one likes the name of Richard 
the Lion-hearted. When we look at his life and character 
it is seen that he was a fierce and quarrelsome man. He 
had been an undutiful son ; so much so, that it was believed 
that when lie went to meet his father's funeral the blood 
flowed from the dead body; showing, according to the old 
superstition, that Richard was in some sense his murderer. 
As to his kingdom of England, all he seemed to care about 
was to wring out of the nation all the money he could. And, 
as has been truly said, it may be well to have the heart of a 
lion, but it would have been far better to have the heart of 
a man. 

Though we cannot look on Richard as a good, or great, or 
wise king, he was in many ways the model of a knight. In 
these days a knight is not held in such great es- 
teem. But Ave think still that many noble qualities lvai T- 
are expressed by the word "chivalrous." That is the French 
or Romance word for "knightly." The French word for 
knight was " chevalier," one who rides on horseback. The 
German word for knight means the same thing, a rider 
(reiter, ritter), and it came to be a title of some honor, 
because those who could afford to ride on horseback were 
the richer and more high-born people. 

Gradually other ideas grew up about the name ; and in 
the days of Richard I., and some time both before and after, 
the one thing which was thought of and desired was to be a 
good knight. Even a great king was not satisfied with be- 
ing wise, able, honest, and brave unless he were also a good 
knight — chivalrous. So that we cannot at all enter into 
the spirit of that age without trying to understand what 
chivalry meant. 



184 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

We cannot fail to have observed that the one great occu- 
pation of a gentleman's life in those days was fighting, and 
Ave have seen how fierce and savage some of the barons and 
warriors were, for the study and practice of killing men 
could only harden their nature and make them brutal. The 
very heart of chivalry Mas a yearning to rise out of this 
savagery and brutality. If we use the word "chivalrous," 
even to-day, we mean something courteous and delicately 
honorable, above the common level of civility and honesty. 
A good knight was bound to be that. He was bound to be 
gentle towards ladies, to be generous towards even his ene- 
mies, to be full of courtesy towards a fallen foe,* and of 
reverence towards age and authority. Perhaps the truest 
description of the ideal of chivalry is that by Tennyson in 
the " Idyls of the King," which, though they are about 
King Arthur, wdio lived ages before chivalry had appeared, 
give a perfect picture of what knighthood might have been 
had an Arthur, as Tennyson paints him, been living in the 
middle ages. He says he drew the knights around him — 

" In that fair order of my Table Round, 
A glorious company, the flower of men, 
To serve as model for the mighty world, 
And be the fair beginning of a time. 
I made them lay their hands in mine and swear 
To reverence the king as if he were 
Their conscience, and their conscience as their king. 
To break the heathen, and uphold the Christ; 
To ride abroad, redressing human wrongs; 
To speak no slander, no, nor listen to it; 
To lead sweet lives, in purest chastity; 
To love one maiden only, cleave to her, 
And worship her by years of noble deeds 
Until they won her ; for indeed I know 
Of no more subtle master under heaven 
Than is the maiden passion for a maid; 
Not only to keep down the base in man, 
But teach high thought, and amiable words, 
And courtliness, and the desire of fame, 
And love of truth, and all that makes a man." 

This is a beautiful picture, perhaps impossible of realization 
(and the lion-hearted Richard was very far from being like 
it), but it gives us an idea of what was aimed at ; and to 

* This was not always the case. The knight had a short dagger 
with which to cut the throat or rip the entrails of his ''fallen foe:'' 
and he did not always spare him. — Ed. 



THE SONS OF HENRY. 185 

have noble aims, even though we cannot reach them, makes 
life noble. 

The knight, then, was to be brave, gallant, pure, faithful, 
loving, and courteous. A true knight also loved music, 
songs, and poetry. If he could make and sing romantic 
songs in praise of his lady, it was a high accomplishment. 

But we sometimes find that the knight, in his admiration 
of virtue, generosity, and magnanimity, undervalued and 
forgot the less ornamental and more homely groundwork of 
honesty, justice, and humanity. Again, in Tennyson's de- 
scription, among the beautiful things which were to be taught, 
was one rather questionable virtue, — " love of fame." We 
must not stop to discuss the merits and demerits of this "last 
infirmity of noble minds ; " but, for good or for ill, it was a 
strong influence in the knightly mind. The knight loved to 
be famous ; to be seen, admired, and celebrated by minstrels 
was his great reward. 

After the Conquest one great change had been introduced 
in the decision of controversies. The Normans introduced 
the method of trial by battle. If in a dispute between two 
men it was impossible to tell which spoke the truth, they 
would appeal to the wager of battle, that is, the two would 
fight, and it was believed that God would uphold the right, 
the innocent would conquer, and the guilty would be over- 
thrown. We often read of this too in poems and romances; 
indeed, the custom has barely died out yet, though it has 
long been contrary to the laws of England. As the chival- 
rous spirit grew, people would fight for the pleasure and the 
vanity of it. This was the beginning of tournaments, which 
Avere in fact terrible combats, but which were considered by 
the knights as delightful opportunities for displaying their 
courage and skill, their fine arms and horses. Though both 
knights and horses were often killed or badly wounded, grand 
ladies, beautifully dressed, would sit on raised seats around 
the lists, looking on, one of whom would be chosen queen of 
beauty, to give the prizes to the conquerors. 

But the great blot and fault in the " ideal " of chivalry 
was that it was limited to a class. The knight was not to 
be faithful and pitiful to all, but only to his own equals, and 
to his own immediate dependants and servants. He had no 
idea that he owed anything of courtesy and generosity to 
the poor and humbly born. He was, we may say, a gentle- 
man when he was dealing with gentlemen and with ladies, 



isr. guest's English history. 

but he might be savage and cruel when he had to do with 
inferiors, tradespeople, and peasants. 

The Black Prince, who lived two hundred years later, was 
the perfect type of a knight. 

A great part of Richard's reign was taken up in fighting 

the third Crusade. A short time before the death of Henry 

II. the Saracens had retaken Jerusalem from the 

Richard a Christians, and another Crusade had been proclaimed 
crusader. * 

to win it back again. People had tried hard to per- 
suade Henry to join it. He at first very prudently said that 
he thought it more his duty to stay at home and govern and 
protect his own subjects than to go and fight the Saracens, 
though afterwards he consented to go. However, those 
sharp family troubles which embittered his last years pre- 
vented his ever doing so. After his death, when Richard 
become king, his first determination was to become a cru- 
sader. 

It is possible that he meant to atone for his undutiful 
conduct towards his father, for which he felt some remorse ; 
it is probable, too, that he had a romantic and religious feel- 
ing about the Holy Land. Put he loved war and fighting 
everywhere; and no doubt one of his main motives was his 
great longing to win honor and distinction. 

His reign began in a dreadful way, by a savage massacre 
of the Jews. People of that time looked on the 
The Jews. j ews a8 t h e nation that had killed Christ, and felt 
as if they were in some sort avenging him if they slew or 
tortured a Jew. The very spirit of the Crusades was full of 
ferocity. The people were taught that killing unbelievers 
was a 'holy and praiseworthy act. St. Bernard says, "The 
Christian wdio slays the unbeliever in the Holy War is sure 
of his reward. . . . The Christian glories in the death of 
the pagan because Christ is glorified." There did not seem 
to people in those days much difference between a pagan or 
a Turk or a Jew. They thought it glorified Christ, the 
Prince of Peace, to kill either of them, and priests or monks 
often hounded the mob on to destroy the Jews. We must 
say, however, in justice to St. Bernard (who, perhaps, like 
many other saints, w as better than his theories), that he tried 
to protect the Jews when the Christians in Germany rose 
against them. He said God had punished the Jews by 
their dispersion ; it was not for man to punish them by 
murder. 



THE SONS OF HENRY. " 187 

The kings, on the whole, protected the Jews, not out of 
kindness or Christian charity, but because they could get 
money out of them. Being in general men of shrewd intel- 
lects and better educated than others, and spending their 
lives in peaceful occupations, they gained and saved great 
wealth. In particular, they were the best physicians and 
the best merchants of the time, and "as rich as a Jew" was 
a true proverb even then. It was they who furnished the 
money at good interest to build the grand castles and cathe- 
drals. They are said to have been the first people in Eng- 
land who built stone dwelling-houses.* For before they 
came into the country all the houses w\'re built of wood, and 
towns and cities were continually being burnt down. 

The Jews had made forced contributions to the Crusade 
now about to start; for the kings, whenever milder means 
failed to extort money, had recourse to torture and imprison- 
ment. Before each former Crusade there had been a massa- 
cre of the Jews, and there was one now. There was one in 
London, on the day of Richard's coronation ; then a still 
Avorse one in York, where the Jews were besieged in the 
castle, and, knowing the horrors that would befall them if 
they fell into the hands of their enemies, they chose rather 
to kill themselves, their wives and children, and to burn up 
all their treasures. 

It does not appear that Richard himself was guilty of 
these massacres ; lie even jmnished, though not severely 
enough, some of the murderers. Having got all the money 
he could collect together, Richard started on the Crusade, 
in the course of which he gained great fame, but Avas also 
so overbearing and quarrelsome that very little Avas achie\ T ed. 
Jerusalem could not be Avon back from the Saracens, and 
Richard was so bitterly grieved at this disappoint- 
ment, that when he Avas led up a hill from which 
the holy city could be seen, he refused to look at it, saying 
he Avas unworthy. England Avas reasonably quiet, and 
though the people were heavily taxed, they were perhaps 
none the worse off for their Avarlike king and his followers 
being so far away. Prince John, to whom his brother had 
shoAvn much kindness, but Avho Avas treacherous by nature, 
endeavored to rebel, but Avas kept in some kind of restraint by 
his mother, avIio helped to govern Avhile Richard Avas absent. 

* Unless the Normans preceded them in this. 



188 GUEST'S ENGLISH H [STORY. 

As the king was returning home from the Crusade he was 
separated by a storm at sea from the body of his followers, 
and at length he was attempting to reach his do- 
Richard a minions by land attended only by one man and a 
boy. In this strait he fell into the hands of the 
Duke of Austria, who was one of the princes whom he had 
affronted and quarrelled with during the Crusade, and who 
soon made him over as a captive to the Emperor of Ger- 
many. For a time no one knew what had become of him, 
and there is an affecting story told of how his friend and 
minstrel, Blondel, wandered about seeking his master, sing- 
ing an air which the two had often sung together in happier 
days, for Richard was also a musician and a poet. At last, 
after singing it without response under many gloomy castle 
walls, he heard it taken up by a voice he knew from within 
a fortress, and thus he found his master. This tale, unfor- 
tunately, was not told by any one living at the time, and 
for that reason there cannot he any assurance of its truth; 
but it was certainly known before long to Richard's people 
that he was a prisoner in the power of the Emperor of Ger- 
many. 

Though Richard had done little for the English, except 
take their money, still they were proud of him. His cour- 
age made both him and his kingdom famous, and they were 
much troubled at his captivity. There were two persons, 
however, who were not sorry for it ; these were his brother 
John, and the king of France. John had given out that his 
brother was dead during the time in which he had not been 
heard of, and was very anxious to be made king himself. 
The French king, whom Richard had insulted in Palestine, 
and who had his eye upon Normandy, was also desirous of 
keejmig him out of the way. He accused him of many 
crimes which he "had never committed; while John, on his 
part, offered to pay the emperor £20,000 a month if he 
would keep his brother in prison. But Richard 

1194. cleared himself from the accusations of the kins of 

■TLlS F6163.S6 ™ 

'France, and the emperor, after demanding and re- 
ceiving a heavy ransom, set him at liberty. 

After his release Richard came to England for the second 
time, where he was crowned again with great ceremony, to 
wipe out the stain of his imprisonment, and soon after left 
England forever. He very soon forgave John ; indeed, he 
was not vindictive, although he was so haughty and impet- 



THE SONS OF HENRY. 189 

nous. The remainder of his life was principally spent in 

wars with France. 

Thei-e was a strange mingling' of cruelty and generosity 

in his conduct, even to the last. He was besieging the 

castle of one of his own vassals, when, almost in 

the hour of victory, he received a mortal wound xi- 11 ? 9 -,, 
. . ,. ■", , ,. . ,. . His death, 

from a soldier on the ramparts. After the final 

assault, and when the castle was taken, the king gave the 

savage order that every one of the men who had defended 

it should be put to death, only excepting the archer whose 

arrow had pierced him. This man was brought before him, 

and spoke out boldly, telling Richard that his father and his 

two brothers had been slain by him, and that now, having 

taken his revenge, he was ready to bear any punishment. 

Richard could admire the bravery of another, even of his 

enemy. He freely forgave the man, ordering his attendants 

to reward him and send him away in safety. Thus, with his 

last thought of pity and pardon, died the Lion-hearted king. 

Richard, having left no children, was succeeded by his 
brother John, who was already known as having 
rebelled against his indulgent father and betrayed 
his confiding brother. He afterwards showed himself one of 
the worst men and kings of whom history gives an account. 
All that was good in him can be stated in few 
words. He is said by some to have been clever Hi | S° od 
and handsome, and to have had agreeable manners, 
though another account is that " he was stupid, fat, and 
sour-looking." He was, however, beyond doubt, a good 
general and soldier. And one of the men who wrote at the 
time, after recording his death and his wickedness, and try- 
ing to add something favorable, says that he founded a mon- 
astery at Beaulieu, and, when dying, gave to the monastery 
of Croxton lands worth ten pounds. 

Scarcely had he become king, his character being already 
so unfavorably known, when he committed a crime 
which roused universal hatred and indignation, and I d ls d vl1 
marked him out clearly for the wicked, pitiless 
wretch he was. 

He was the only living son of Henry IT., and was made 
king of England without any difficulty. Though the law of 
the succession to the crown was not yet clearly settled, as it 
is now, yet the descent from the eldest son of a king had 
begun to be thought more important than formerly, espe- 



190 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOBY. 

cially on the Continent. John's eldest brother had no chil- 
dren ; but the second, Geoffrey, had left a young 
Arthur. g0l ^ Arthur. Though he was still a child, it was 
held by jurists, as Geoffrey was older than John, his son was 
now the rightful heir of his grandfather Henry II., and 
should be king of England and Duke of Normandy. This 
would certainly be the case now. 

At one time during Richard's life there had been a plan 
for making Arthur his heir ; and now his mother, Constance 
of Brittany, stirred up all the friends she could for him. A 
strong party took up his cause, with the French king at 
their head, and there was some lighting in France. At last 
John, who was a skilful general, gained a victory, and made 
his young nephew prisoner. 

The rest of that poor young prince's story, as it was 
known or surmised and believed, is told in Shakespeare's 
play of Kin <j John. Some of the most pathetic sentences 
ever written, even by Shakespeare, are in the lament of his 
mother Constance over her boy — 

" Therefore never, never 
Must I behold my pretty Arthur more." 

In the play, Arthur's attendant, Hubert, is ordered to put 
out his eyes, and the murderous king darkly hints that the 
death of his nephew would be welcome. Such deeds are 
necessarily done in darkness, and no one ever fully knew 
the truth about Arthur's death. The historian, a monk of 
St. Alban's abbey, who lived at this time, and wrote a very 
long and interesting account of this, says that John sent him 
close prisoner to Rouen, " but shortly afterwards the said 
Arthur suddenly disappeared." If a prince suddenly disaj)- 
peared in such circumstances, it opened a door to grave sus- 
picions ; and, it was universallv believed that John 
slew him with his own hand; "for which reason," 
says the same historian, the monk Roger, "many turned 
their affections from the king, and entertained the deepest 
enmity against him." 

This horrible crime was the beginning of John's misfor- 
tunes. It not only turned men's hearts against him, but 
King Philip of France seized on it as a pretext for taking 
possession of Normandy and a great part of John's other 
French dominions. It must be remembered that though, as 
king of England, he was independent of France or any other 



THE soXS OF HENRY. 101 

over-lord, yet lie held Normandy and his other French 
provinces as vassal of the king of Franca. 

Philip accordingly summoned John to appear before him 
and the great lords of France to answer for the crime of 
which he was accused. John would not come ; upon which 
Philip declared that he had forfeited his duchy, and marched 
into Normandy with an army. If John had been innocent 
as a man and upright as a king, respected by his 1204 
nobles, French ami English, the affair would have Loss of 
turned out differently. If it had been William the Nomand y- 
Conqueror, or Henry I., or Henry IT., he would never have 
let Normandy go. But John was so hated and despised that 
Philip got Normandy and most of his other French posses- 
sions with hardly any trouble. 

So, after being united for about one hundred and fifty 
years, England and Normandy were separated again. Of 
all the French possessions of the Conqueror, there only re- 
mained to England the Channel Islands, which had belonged 
to Normandy, where the poorer people still speak ancient 
French, and are governed by remains of old Norman laws, 
and w r ho still boast " that they rather conquered England 
than England conquered them." 

Bnt though this was a great loss to King John, and he 
acquired the ignominious surname of " Sans-terre," or 
"Lackland," it was in the end all the better for England. 
As long as the King of England was also lord of a portion 
of France, he was more a foreigner than an Englishman, 
and the English often had to pay money and to fight in 
quarrels with which they had nothing to do. Some of the 
great lords, it appears, still had lands both in Normandy and 
England, as they had soon after the Conquest; but they 
now lost them and became entirely English, unless they 
chose to give up their English estates and settle in France 
as Frenchmen. The provinces in the south of France, 
which had belonged to Henry II. 's wife Eleanor, were 
looked on now as a distant dependency of England, instead 
of England being only a dependency or province of the 
great French dominions of the king. From this time for- 
ward England was England, with an English king, lords, 
and people. 

The Anglo-Saxon " Chronicle," as we saw, came to an end 
in 1154, and for the fifty years following, any one who had 
anything to write wrote it in Latin. But now an English 



192 GUEST"* ENGLISH HISTORY. 

clergyman wrote, or, rather, translated a book into English.* 
It contained many absurd and some beautiful 
1205. stories, among others that of King Lear and his 
daughters; and also curious and romantic histories 
of King Arthur and his knights, and the wizard Merlin. 
These tales were so popular at that time that the unfortu- 
nate young Prince of Brittany had been named after King 
Arthur. 

* The translation is from the French, although the legends had 
been British before being adorned by Gallic art. The book is valu- 
able as a specimen of the language in its early form, but as a history 
it is worthless. It is in verse, and contains thirty thousand lines. — 
Ed. 



CHAPTER XXL 

MAGNA CHARTA. 

The dispute -with the Pope. Stephen Langton. John becomes the Pope's vassal. 
The archbishop and the barons demand the charter. The changes it intro- 
duced. John breaks the charter. The French invasion. Death of John. 

The loss of John's great provinces in France might be 
looked on as a " blessing in disguise." His wickedness also 
worked for good in another way. For a long time the great 
barons and nobles had been tyrants and oppressors, and the 
king and the people had, more or less, made common cause 
against them. In this way the kings had grown to be very 
powerful, and would have been likely to become despots 
whom nobody could resist. If the king had been tolerably 
good, he would have gained more and more power, as in 
France and some other countries. But John was so intoler- 
ably base that neither the nobles nor the people could put 
up with him. So before the royal power had become too 
firmly established, all his subjects rose against him, and 
established once and forever the bulwark of English liberty. 

Soon after losing Normandy John got into a quarrel with 
Pope Innocent III., and at the outset there is Th 
no doubt that he was in the right. The quarrel rel with 
related to the election of an Archbishop of Canter- tbe Pope- 
bury. There were two candidates for the office, one ap- 
proved by the king, and the other not, both of whom claimed 
to have been elected by the monks of Canterbury. In this 
difficulty they both went to Rome, that the Poj^e might de- 
cide between them ; but they were greatly surprised to find 
that the Pope refused to approve either of them, and com- 
manded the monks to elect another man of his appointing. 

This was an unheard-of thing for the Pope to claim the 
right to aj^point an English archbishop, and when John 
heard it he was naturally indignant, and made a spirited 
answer. He declared he wondered at the Pope's audacity, 
and he would stand up for the rights of his crown to the 

193 



1(U GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

death, and "as there were plenty of archbishops, bishops, 

and other prelates of the church, as well in England as in 

his other territories, who were well stored in all kinds of 

learning, if he wanted them, he would not beg for justice or 

judgment from strangers out of his own dominions," — words 

which, as Fuller says, well "deserved memory, had they been 

as vigorously acted as valiantly spoken." 

In this instance also, good came out of evil. Though it 

is certain the Pope had no light to appoint the Archbishop 

of Canterbury, yet he chose an excellent man for 

Stephen t] ie r )0S t. His name was Stephen Lano-ton, a name 

Langton. , . *: . , , , . , I , «=> ' . . 

which ought to be had in honor as long as England 

lasts. However, for the time, King John forbade his enter- 
ing the country.* 

The Pope, on his part, was resolute. He had a power in 
reserve for punishing kingdoms which fell under his displea- 

1208 sure ? almost as terrible as was the power of excom- 
The inter- munication against individuals. This was called the 

dlct " interdict, which meant that all religious services 
were forbidden in the country. The churches were shut up; 
no sacraments were performed, except baptizing infants and 
giving the last office to the dying. Marriages were only 
celebrated in the churchyard or in the porch, instead of in- 
side the church ; and the dead were buried in roads and 
ditches, without any prayers or any clergyman's presence. 

"See now," says Fuller, "on a sudden the sad face of the 
English Church — a face without a tongue; no singing of 
service, no reading of prayers. None need pity the living 
. . . when he looks on the dead, who were buried in ditches 
like dogs, without any prayers said upon them. True, a 
well-informed Christian knows full well that a corpse, 
though cast in a bog, shall not stick there at the day of 
judgment; thrown into a wood, shall then find the way out; 
buried by the highway side, is in the ready road to resurrec- 
tion ; . . . yet, seeing that these people believed that a grave 
in consecrated ground was a good step to heaven, and were 
taught that prayers after death were essential to their salva- 
tion, it must needs put strange fears into the heads and 
hearts, both of such which deceased, and their friends which 
survived them." 

* Langton was an Englishman by birth, was educated at Paris, and 
was made a cardinal at Rome before his appointment as Archbishop. 
— En. 



MAGNA CHA11TA. 195 

The people of England were thus in a sad condition, 
punished by the Pope for no offence on their part, and 
tyrannized over more and more by the cruel king. 
Roger, the monk of St. Alban's (who is generally t ^Jn!fv 
called Roger of Wendover), tells us that there were 
at this time in the kingdom of England many nobles whose 
wives and daughters the king had shamefully insulted, " to 
the great indignation of their husbands and fathers; others 
whom he had, by unjust exactions, reduced to the extreme 
of poverty; some whose parents and relations he had banish- 
ed, converting their inheritances to his own uses ; thus the 
said king's enemies were as numerous as his nobles." 

He gives many examples of John's cruelty. He "was 
offended at a certain archdeacon, named Geoffrey, for some- 
thing he had said ; so he had him seized, chained, and thrown 
into prison, where he was half-starved ; and, " after he had 
been there a few days, by command of the said king, a cap 
of lead was put on him, and at length, being overcome by 
want of food, as well as by the weight of the leaden cap, he 
departed to the Lord." 

At one time, being afraid his nobles were going to rebel, 
he demanded hostages of them; that is, he required them 
to give him custody of their sons or nephews as pledges of 
their faithfulness. Amongst others, John's messengers came 
to a certain nobleman named William de Braose, to ask for 
his son to be delivered into the care of the king. But 
"Matilda, wife of the said William, with the sauciness of a 
woman, took the reply out of his mouth, and said to the 
messengers in reply, ' I will not deliver up my son to your 
lord, King John, because he basely murdered his nephew 
Arthur, whom he ought to have taken care of honorably.' " 
We may imagine how enraged the king was when he heard 
this speech ; he immediately sent knights and soldiers to 
seize on the whole family. Though they escaped for that 
time, he got possession of the poor lady afterwards with her 
son, and starved them both to death ! 

His cruelty to the Jews was more atrocious than any of 
his many misdeeds. "All the Jews throughout England, of 
both sexes, were seized, imprisoned, and tortured severely, in 
order to do the king's will with their money. . . . Some of 
them gave up all they had, and promised more, that they 
might thus escape. One of them, at Bristol, even after be- 
ing dreadfully tortured, refused to ransom himself; on which 



196 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the king ordered his agents to knock out one of his cheek- 
teeth daily, until he paid ten thousand marks of silver. 
After they had for seven days knocked out a tooth each day, 
with great agony to the Jew, and had begun the same opera- 
tion on the eighth day, the said Jew, reluctant as he was to 
provide the money required, gave the said sum to save his 
eighth tooth, though he had already lost seven." 

But the king's humiliation was near at hand. He had not 
taken much notice of the interdict, and still refused to allow 
Stephen Langton to enter the kingdom. So now the Pope, 
who had just excommunicated the Emperor of Germany, 
and, as Fuller says, " had his hand in," proceeded to excom- 
municate John by name. John even now took no notice, 
but went on as before. And he led armies successfully into 
Wales and Ireland, for he was, as we know, a good soldier. 
But meanwhile he made his own nobles and people hate him 
worse and worse, and especially the clergy whom he had 
tried to punish for the Pope's offences. 

Pope Innocent, having tried the interdict and the excom- 
munication in vain, now went a step farther, and deposed 
Kino- John — declared that he should no longer be 
The pope king of England, but that the Pope would choose 
deposes another in his stead. It was enough to make Wil- 

im " liam the Conqueror turn in his grave that the Pope 
should take upon him to put down and set up kings in Eng- 
land. But John Mas frightened now and humbled. For the 
nobles, " well pleased that they were absolved from their 
allegiance to John," began to make friends with his enemy 
the king of France; and he made preparations to invade 
England, and seize on that as he had already done on Nor- 
mandy. 

There would have been no fear that the king of France 
could have conquered England, if the English had loved 
their king. For England had become strong, had a great 
fleet, and trained soldiers. "-Had they been of one heart, 
and of one disposition towards their king," says Roger, 
"there was not a prince under heaven against whom they 
could not have defended the kingdom of England." But 
they were not all of one mind towards their king, or, rather, 
that one mind was of hatred and detestation of him. John 
knew this very well, and had reason to be alarmed. Another 
thing which frightened him was that a hermit, named Peter, 
had foretold that by next Ascension Day John would no 



(/mag: 



MAGNA CHARTA. 197 

longer be a king, but the crown of England would be 
transferred to another. John had heard of this prophecy, 
and had put Peter in prison for it ; for the prophecy was 
spread abroad everywhere, and everybody inclined to be- 
lieve it. 

In this great strait all John's boldness incited away. In- 
stead of promising his lords and his people that he would 
reform and govern them justly and mercifully, and 

rallying them round him to defend their country, ^VL^" 

• s *> ' mission. 

he humbled himself to the Pope, and begged for 
his pardon and help. He not only submitted to him about 
the appointing of the archbishop, and gave free He ^ oes 
leave for Stephen Langton to come to Canterbury, homage for 
but he humbled himself far lower than that, lie hiscrown - 
made over the whole free kingdom of England to the Po])e 
of Rome, and did homage to him as his vassal. 

They even say that John took off his royal crown and 
laid it at the feet of the Pope's legate. People did not fail 
to take notice that this disgrace and shame happened on 
Ascension Day. But when that day passed; and John was 
still alive and well, the poor prophet was brought out of 
prison, tied to a horse's tail, dragged through the streets, 
and afterwards hung. His son, who could not have been 
responsible for his father's sinister prophecy, was hung too. 
But people whispered among themselves that poor Peter 
ought not to have been hung, for his prophecy had come true 
indeed. 

As Innocent had fully triumphed, John was solemnly ab- 
solved, and the Pope thereupon forbade the French king to 
invade England. The French king was much enraged at 
this, for he had made great preparations, and was ready 
with his army to go over and conquer the island. How- 
ever, having another enemy ready to his hand in Flanders, 
he turned against him for the time, and England was left 
alone. 

But though the Pope was now satisfied, and took John's 
part, the English lords were not so easily pacified; and now 
they had got an able leader and adviser on their Arriva i of 
side. This was the archbishop whom the Pope had Archbishop 
forced upon England. Innocent must have been stephen - 
greatly surprised at the turn affairs took. He had been 
quite content with John's submission and obedience, and 
with a promise John had made to restore the money of the 



198 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Church. We do not hear of his admonishing John to rule 
his subjects better, to leave off injustice and cruelty, and to 
protect the poor, the orphan, or the stranger. 

When Stephen Langton came to England, the condition 
of the people was one of the first things to engage his atten- 
tion. Before John could get absolution from him, he was 
made to promise that "he would renew all the good laws of 
his ancestors, especially those of King Edward ; would annul 
bad ones, would judge his subjects justly, and would restore 
his rights to each and all." 

John promised; but of course he did not mean to keep his 
promise. On the contrary, he immediately collected a great 
army to fight against his refractory barons. The archbishop 
boldly told him that he had no right to make war, and 
induced him to give up his purpose. Directly after this, a 
great council was held at St. Paul's in London, consisting of 
the bishops, barons, and others, and the archbishop at its 
head. The principal public business transacted was, that 
the archbishop gave leave to the clergymen who had had no 
Church services for so long to open their churches once 
Stephen inore 5 an< ^ to sing the services, "though in a low 
and the voice." But privately he called some of the nobles 
arons * to him, and said, "Did you hear how, when I ab- 
solved the king at Winchester, 1 made him swear that he 
would do away with unjust laws, and would recall good 
laws, such as those of King Edward?" Then he told them 
he had found a most precious thing, — the charter of liberty, 
which was given by Henry I. (see p. 156), but which seemed 
to have been lost and forgotten ; and by help of that he said 
they might win back their rights. 

In this great fight between tyranny and liberty, it is 
important to notice one thing. It is, that Stephen Langton 
and the barons were not fighting for anything new or trying 
to do away with anything old. England had always been a 
free country.* The Angles and related tribes, when they 
were still living in Germany and Denmark, were noted for 
their love of liberty, and their kings had never been allowed 
to be tyrants. They had had their councils of wise men, 
and their great assemblies, in which every freeman hail a 
voice. Some of all this had been forgotten in the course of 

* This is the whig and liberal view of the English constitution. 
The tory view is supported by arguments and precedents perhaps 
equally strong. — Ed. 



MAGNA CHARTA. 199 

ages; bat now Englishmen, under this intolerable tyrant, 
began to " remember from whence they had fallen," and to 
resolve they would bring their old rights to life again. They 
would have back the good old laws of Henry I. and Edward 
the Confessor. Those good old laws were founded on the 
older laws of Canute, of Edgar the Peaceable, and of Alfred. 
It shows, too, how the nobles by this time had become com- 
pletely English, that they wanted the laws of Edward the 
Confessor, who was the last king of the old English royal 
family. 

The archbishop then showed the barons the charter of 
Henry I., and caused it to be read aloud to them. When 
the barons heard it they were delighted ; they Th 
swore that they would stand up for their rights, solve they 
and, if necessary, would die for them; the arch- wil1 be free " 
bishop t faithfully promising them his help and support. 
This was the beginning of the great struggle which ended 
in Magna Charta, the great charter of English liberties. 

The year after the council at St. Paul's, the barons assem- 
bled at the shrine of St. Edmund, the English saint, whom 
the Danes had killed. In his church they swore on the 
great altar that if the king refused them these liberties and 
laws they would withdraw from their allegiance, and make 
war on him. 

"When Christmas came John was in London, and the no- 
bles came up to him " in gay, military array," and reminding 
him of what he had promised when he was absolved, de- 
manded that he would now confirm those pi*omises. The 
king was greatly agitated, but got leave to wait till Easter, 
probably hoping that he might find some way out of it by 
that time. But at Easter things looked rather worse for 
the king than better ; the barons had made use of the inter- 
val in inducing almost all the. nobility of the whole nation to 
join them ; and now they assembled in a very large army, 
all well equipped. Besides the nobles, there were also on 
the same side the citizens of London, with their Lord Mayor 
at their head. 

There was hardly any one on the king's side ; he could 
barely muster seven knights. In this emergency he did just 
what such a man was likely to do — he "concealed his secret 
hatred under a calm countenance, and deceitfully promised" 
to do as they wished. 

The barons appointed to meet the king in the meadow of 



200 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Runnymcde, near Windsor. There John signed the Great 
1215 Charter — the very charter which, torn, shrivelled, 
The Great and yellow with age, may still be seen in the Brit- 
Charter. igh Museum. 

Roger of Wendover tells us that John signed the charter 
Avithout making any objection, and every one " exulted in 
the belief that God had compassionately touched the king's 
heart ; had taken away his heart of stone, and given him 
one of flesh ; " and they hoped that " he was happily inclined 
to all gentleness and peace. But far otherwise was it." The 
same writer tells us that some of the few people about the 
king "said gmntingly, and with much laughter and derision, 
'that he was no longer a king, but a slave and the scum of 
the people.' " Upon which he fell into a rage, as his father 
used to do, gnashed his teeth, scowled with his eyes, and, 
seizing sticks and limbs of trees, began to gnaw them with 
his teeth. After which he began to take measures for break- 
ing all his promises. 

To understand the case we should know something of the 
state of things in England. The kings in those times ex- 
ercised arbitrary powers in an offensive and vexa- 

The king's tious way, and were not above taking bribes of all 

power. j » o 

sorts. Thus one man had to pay twenty marks for 
leave to salt fishes; others had to pay one hundred shillings 
for leave to buy and sell dyed cloth. If a man wanted the 
king to do him justice — to pay him a debt, for instance — he 
would have to offer a present ; sometimes it would be a share 
of the money, but sometimes it would be things we should 
have supposed a king would be too proud to accept ; it might 
be two or three horses, or hawks ; two handsome green 
dresses, or three Flemish caps ; two hundred hens, or three 
hundred fishes. 

The king's authority was as heavy on the great lords as on 

the common people. For example, if a baron died the king 

Widows took possession of his estates, and would not let the 

and or- son and heir succeed his father without paying a 

p ans. i ar g e sura f money; and this was not a sum fixed 

by law, but the king claimed just what he liked. If the son 

and heir was still a child, then the king kept all the profits 

to himself till the boy came of age, and gave out only what 

he thought fit for bringing him up. As to the widow, she 

often had a great deal of trouble to get her proper dowry ; 

and if the king chose he could make her marry again, whether 



MAGNA CHARTA. 201 

she would or no ; and many whom lie pleased, not whom she 
pleased. Even under a just and clement king, this might 
have been intolerable ; but a wicked king like John was sure 
to abuse the power. In Magna Charta these rights were 
expressly given up. 

Offenders against the laws were very often punished by 
fines; that was no doubt preferable to having their hands or 
feet cut off ; but the grievance was that the fines 
were not fixed, but were at the king's pleasure, Fines - 
and his pleasure w r as often measured by his need of money. 
Sometimes people were made to give up all they had. A 
countryman might have to give up his very carts and farm- 
ing-stock with which he earned his living. In Magna Charta 
John had to promise that a man should only be fined accord- 
ing to his offence, and also according to his property, and 
that he should never have his means of living taken away 
from him. And he had to leave the amount of a fine to be 
decided by lawful and tried men, the man's own neighbors 
and equals (as in a trial by jury). 

The king had also exercised the right of imposing taxes 
at his own will ; but now he had to promise that he would 
not do that without the consent of his council. The 
council was much the same as the old Witan, and Taxes - 
something like the Parliament, but with a difference, as will 
be seen. 

Another great hardship was, that when the king travelled 
through the kingdom his servants and officers used to seize 
on people's horses and carts to carry his goods with- 
out paying for them ; and they would also take corn p "™g y " 
and other provisions if they wanted them, in the 
same way. It will be remembered that Henry I.'s servants 
used to treat the people badly in this respect, until he put a 
stop to it. John was now obliged to promise that his people 
should respect the rights of property. (At that time the hire 
of a cart with two horses was tenpence a day, and one with 
three horses was fourteen pence.) 

Many other evils were abolished and good rules estab- 
lished in Magna Charta. There were some curious addi- 
tions made to it afterwards about the woods and forests, 
which show how tyrannical the forest laws must 
have been before. If a man's pigs wandered into Forests - 
the king's forest for one night it was not to be made a pre- 
text for depriving him of his property. No one was to be 



202 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

killed for hunting the kino's deer, but might pay a fine, or 
go to prison for a year and a day. And a man might keep 
all the honey found in his own woods. 

But the most important point in the charter was that no 
freeman should be imprisoned or punished in any way except 
... by lawful judgment of his peers or equals ; not by 

imprison- the arbitrary will of the king <>r of any person in 
ment - authority, but by the law of the land. And the 

king had to promise too -To none will we sell, to none will 
Ave delay or deny justice." We may well imagine the misery 
that would prevail when justice w:is sold; when the rich 
111:111, who could bribe the judge or the king, bail his desire, 
and the poor man was not listened to. The value of the 
charter was that it established a rule for kings, so that the 
country was no longer to be at the mercy of chance, — to 
depend on whether there happened to he a good or a bad 
man on the throne, — as it must where a monarchy is abso- 
lute. 

All the powers, or almost all, which the king had over his 
barons, the barons had over their vassals, and they could 
The barons °Pl ,ress them even more than the king could op- 
and their press themselves, because the under-vassals had 
vassals. j ess p Gwer f G ves i s t„ Many of the poorer tenants, 
instead of paying rent, had to do work for their lords; for 
instance, they might have to take their horses and wagons 
and reap his corn and carry it home, when their own wanted 
reaping. He could tax them and fine them as he liked, and 
he also had courts of justice (or injustice) of his own. It 
Would appear that in framing the charter the lords, with 
Langton, were not thinking only of themselves, or their 
class, but cared for the good of all the people in the land, 
for they promised to do for their own vassals the same as 
they made the king promise to do for them. 

Every one knew that John was not to be trusted to keep 
Thetwen- ms won ^ 80 twenty-live lords were appointed to 
ty-five look after him and compel him if possible; one of 
lords. these twenty-five was the Lord Mayor of London, 
After the king had signed the charter he was made to sign 
an agreement with regard to these lords, which must have 
been humiliating. The agreement provides that if he vio- 
lates the articles "those barons, with the whole community 
of the country, shall annoy and harass us by all the means in 
their power, such as taking our castles, lands, and posses- 



MAIINA CI1AKTA. 203 

sions, ami any other means, till we give them satisfaction. 
And, the better to harass us, the four castellans of North- 
ampton, Kenilworth, Nottingham, and Scarborough shall 

swear to the twenty-five barons that they will do with the 

said castles whatever they may command or enjoin them to 

do," etc. We can hardly wonder at John gnawing- sticks 

after having signed this. 

The charter was now published all over the kingdom; it 

was read in the churches, that all might know what the king 

had promised, and help to " annoy and harass" him if he 

broke his word. The kino- after his outburst of T . ■ 
n , . ii-i ,v i Jonn s 

fury, and passing a sleepless night, went oft to the plans of 

Isle of Wight "in great agony of mind, devising reven & e - 

plans to be revenged on the barons." His first move was to 

send to the Pope and induce him to take his part against his 

people. The next was, wishing, as Roger says, "to seek 

revenge on his enemies with two swords, the spiritual and 

temporal," to hire foreign soldiers from abroad to come and 

fight for him. 

The Pope, who appeared to care only for his own power, 
took upon him to "annul and quash " the charter, and forbid 
anybody to pay attention to it. But the English The p 
nobles were not disposed to give way to the Pope; annuls the 
they went on "harassing" the king more severely charter - 
than ever. After this the Pope said the barons were worse 
than the very Saracens, and excommunicated them. He 
also punished his own archbishop, Stephen Langton, by sus- 
pending him. Then lie excommunicated the barons over 
again, and laid the city of London under an interdict. Even 
this did not deter the barons. The Pope had stretched his 
pow r er too far. For when these sentences were made know r n, 
"the city, of London treated them with contempt, inasmuch 
as the barons determined not to observe them ; " and even 
the priests would not publish them. Men began to say that 
the management of civil temporal affairs did not pertain 
to the Pope, but only the control and management of the 
church; " they therefore paid no regard at all to the sen- 
tence of interdict or excommunication, bul held worship 
throughout the whole city, ringing bells and chanting with 
loud voices." 

Meanwhile John's other plan — of bringing in foreign sol- 
diers — was having results of an unexpected nature. For 
while the king by their help seemed to get the better of the 



204 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

barons, and took possession of several strong castles, these 
hired soldiers Mere so outrageously wicked that they 
soldTefs on ty strengthened the general hatred against John. 
" The whole surface of the earth," writes Roger, 
" was covered with these limbs of the devil, like locusts, who 
assembled from remote regions to blot out everything from 
the face of the earth — from man down to his cattle; for, 
running about with drawn swords and open knives, they 
ransacked towns, houses, cemeteries, and churches ; robbing 
every one, and sparing neither women nor children. Even 
the priests, while standing at the very altars with the cross 
of the Lord in their hands, clad in their sacred robes, were 
seized, tortured, robbed, and ill-treated ; and there was no pon- 
tiff, priest, or Levite to pour oil or wine on their wounds." 

It was hard to say what was to be done with a king like 
this, so faithless and so cruel — such an enemy to his own 
Thebarons kingdom. The barons consulted together, and did 
invite the a thing which seems unworthy of them. They 

au P in - determined to get rid of John altogether, and they 
determined also to offer the crown of England to the son of 
the king of France. Naturally the French king and his son 
were only too pleased. The Dauphin (the French king's 
eldest son) had married John's niece, which was supposed to 
give him some sort of claim to the throne, and he now came 
over to England with a great company of earls, barons, and 
knights, all eager to get a share of the rich and beautiful 
island; doubtless they hoped to settle down as the Normans 
had done a hundred and fifty years before. But this was 
not to be. The English lords began to repent of their rash 
act when they found out how the Frenchmen behaved. 
They soon began plundering and bringing their booty to 
London ; and the Dauphin Louis, passing over the. English 
lords who were on his side, gave lands and castles to his 
Frenchmen. It Avas even said that as soon as he had sub- 
dued England and been crowned king he would banish 
the English barons from the country. The barons were 
therefore in great perplexity, when a most fortunate event 
occurred, namely, the death of John. 

He was marching along the coast from Norfolk into Lin- 
colnshire, at a place where two small rivers run into the sea. 

1216 At low water this part of the sea is nearly dry; but 
Death of after crossing the mouth of one river, the difficulty 

Johl1, is, to be in time to cross the other before the tide 



MAGNA CHARTA. 205 

rises. In trying to pass this dangerous place a large part of 
John's baggage and treasure was lost : men, horses, carts, 
and costly articles, including his crown. It was the custom, 
when great people travelled far, to take all their goods with 
them. The loss of all these valuables so preyed upon John's 
mind that he fell into a fever. Nobody ever knew whether 
it was from poison or from eating too many peaches and 
drinking new cider when he was already ill; but for one 
cause or other he died in that abbey of Croxton to which he 
gave the land, worth £10. 

Perhaps no one ever quitted the world whose death was 
such a blessing. John left a son about nine years old. Till 
this time there had never been a king of England who was a 
child ; a king's young sons had been often passed over, and 
a grown man, perhaps the last king's brother, had been 
made king. This may have been the reason for the barons' 
invitation to the French prince ; it might not have occurred 
to them to make the little boy king; and there was no one 
else left of the royal family. John was the last son of Henry 
II., and none of the others had left any descendants, except 
the poor Arthur, who had been killed. Happily John died 
before it was too late for the barons to withdraw from the 
Dauphin's cause. Louis had already made the English nobles 
hate him, and accordingly they thought it better to have a 
child for the kiii£ than the Frenchman. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

HENRY III. — RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 

Gothic architecture and Westminster Abbey. Extortions of the Pope. The 
Grey Friars and the Black Friars. The universities. Koger Bacon. 

Henry III. was solemnly crowned at Gloucester by the 
Bishop of Winchester. Stephen Langton had been sus- 
pended by the Pope, and was out of the country ; 
Henry 6 ill lt was not tn ^ after Pope Innocent died that he 
was allowed to return; but when he came back, 
he, as Archbishop of Canterbury, crowned the young king- 
over again, and took a great share in the government. 

At the coronation Henry swore, as the kings usually did, 
that he would honor the Church, show strict justice to the 
people, abolish bad laws, and make good ones. He had as 
yet no power to keep or break these promises, being but nine 
years old, but he had a good guardian, "William Marischal, 
Earl of Pembroke. Of course the first thing to be done 
was to drive away the French, which was done without 
much trouble. Almost all the barons forsook the Dauphin, 
TheDau- Avno nn '^ treated them with such contempt, and 
phinsent returned to their allegiance to the young king, 
away. There were two fights, one on land and one at sea ; 
the English conquered in both, and Louis was obliged to ask 
for peace. The English, " who," says Roger, " desired beyond 
measure to be rid of him," soon made terms with him, and 
he on his part seems to have been thankful to get away. 
tk Each and all gave one another the kiss of peace, many of 
them deceitfully. . . . Louis was conducted with all speed 
to the sea-coast, and thence, in lasting ignominy, escaped to 
France." These are the lines in which Shakespeare refers 
to this passage in history : — 

" This England never did, nor never shall, 
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror, 
But when it first did help to wound itself; 
206 



RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 207 

Now these her princes are come home again, 
Come the three corners of the world in arms, 
And we shall shock them ; nought shall make us rue 
If England to itself do rest but true." 

Henry III. had a long reign of fifty-six years. It was not 
a very peaceable one, though he grew up to be a harmless, 
well-meaning man, very different from his father. But he 
was not at all suited for those disturbed times, and by his 
dulness as well as his weak amiability he got into great dis- 
putes with his people. The mere signing of Magna Charta 
by John was not enough to settle the liberty of England ; 
it took many more years of struggle before those good reso- 
lutions could be established. The bribery, tyranny, and in- 
justice of all sorts which had prevailed before Magna Charta 
seem now outrageous and even absurd; but the English had 
to battle for many long years t<> get them trodden down and 
abolished. 

Henry III. had a great reverence for Edward the Confes- 
sor, and rather reminds us of him in several ways. Like him 
he was religious, gentle, and refined ; he liked music 
and poetry ; his private life was very good, but he ^^'ter 
was not wise or strong. And, like Edward, he 
loved foreigners, bringing them over in numbers, and mak- 
ing them bishops and lords in England. The English of his 
day liked this no better than Earl Godwine and the English 
of those days had done. 

Moreover, he offended the people in one way which Ed- 
ward the Confessor never did — by his taxes and greed for 
money. Edward, as we remember, had seen a little devil 
dancing on his money-bags, and had abolished the oppres- 
sive taxes. Henry had not the eyes to see the same, and he 
went on extorting his subjects' money, until there was re- 
bellion. 

He was much under the guidance of Archbishop Stephen, 
and very likely his great reverence for Edward the Confessor 
Avas partly learned from him, for we know how he and the 
barons had wished for his laws back again. Probably they 
often talked to the young king about him, and when Henry 
grew to be a man he named his sons by the old English 
names of Edward and Edmund, names which had gone out 
of fashion after the Norman Conquest. 

Another way he had of honoring Edward the Confessor 
was by pulling down Westminster Abbey. 



208 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

As Henry reverenced the memory of Edward the Con- 
fessoi-, it might seem strange that he should demolish the 
old Westminster Abbey. The old structure was 
ster Abbey ^ ouDt ^ ess f u 'l °f beauty and interest, but the archi- 
' tects knew they would erect a nobler one, and make 
a still worthier abode for the shrine of the first founder. 
Just at this time a new style of architecture had come into 
existence, the Gothic, perhaps the most beautiful of any in- 
vented by man. The Saxon or Norman architecture, imi- 
tated from the Roman, with its massive pillars and round 
arches, was grand and solemn and beautiful ; but the Gothic, 
which had taller and more slender pillars and pointed arches, 
was also grand and solemn and still more beautiful.* The 
Westminster Abbey which Henry III. built is the same we 
see and love so much now, the " loveliest thing in Christen- 
dom." When we look at it, when we walk along its stately 
aisles and look up to its lofty and shadowy roof, we feel that 
there were other thoughts in the hearts of the people of the 
middle ages besides the fighting and disputing which history 
books are full of — thoughts which they did not know how 
to put into Avords, but which breathe and live for us still in 
the unperishing stone. 

Soon after the first stone of the Lady Chapel of Westmin- 
ster Abbey was laid, the young king, who was about thirteen 

1220 years old, was taken to Canterbury, to a grand ser- 
Canterbury vice in honor of Thomas a Becket. About fifty 
Cathedral. years before, a great fire had destroyed the finest 
part of Canterbury Cathedral. It would be considered a 
great misfortune now, but it would not make such an im- 
pression as it did then. It gives us a glimpse of the extra- 
ordinary religious feeling that prevailed, to see how they 
behaved on the occasion. " They tore their hair ; they beat 
the Avails and pavement of the church with their shoulders 
and the palms of their hands ; they uttered tremendous 
curses against God and his saints; . . . they Avished they 
had rather died than have seen such a day." HoAvever, they 
soon set to Avork to repair the damage, and make it more 
splendid than before, filling the AvindoAvs with painted glass, 
including pictures of the miracles Avrought at the tomb of 
St. Thomas. A splendid shrine Avas made to contain his 

* There is an able and brilliant essay upon Gothic architecture in 
Victor Hugo's " Notre Dame." — Ed. 



RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 209 

bones, and when all was complete the young king and a 
magnificent procession, with the lords, archbishops, bishops, 
and a great many Frenchmen and other foreigners, assem- 
bled to carry the new shrine to its resting-place. 

With all this religious and artistic work, the archbishop 
did not forget the liberty of the people and the Great Char- 
ter. When Henry was about fifteen the archbishop and the 
other nobles demanded of him to confirm it. One of the 
king's counsellors objeeted, saying that the charter had been 
extorted by force, and the king ought not to be bound by it. 
But the archbishop was very indignant at this, and said 
angrily to the counsellor, "William, if you loved the king 
you would not disturb the peace of the kingdom." When 
the young king saw the archbishop so angry ' e immediately 
promised to observe the charter, though he tried to escape 
from keeping this promise afterwards. 

After the archbishop's death there was a great dispute as 
to who should succeed him, and it was referred to the Pope 
to decide. The Pope now determined to take the 
king's side, the reason of which was that was he in Death of 
great want of money, and the king's party prom- Stephen 
ised him an immense reward if he would favor Dg ° n ' 
them. He sent letters of fulsome compliment to the 
Church of Canterbury. He said it was "the most noble 
limb of the apostolic see;" it was "the paradise of „,, p 
pleasure and the garden of sweets ; " it had in it interferes 
"the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (by again ' 
which he is said to have meant the archbishopric), and "the 
tree of life" (meaning the monks), and "from it flowed a 
miracle-working river" (the blood of Thomas a Becket). 
After all this, he said he meant to place in that paradise 
the man whom the king recommended as archbishop. 

For this the Pope was promised a tenth part of all the 
movable property in England and Ireland. But this was 
rather easier to promise than to perforin. For when the 
Pope's messengers came to England to get the money, " the 
earls, barons, and all the laity declared plainly that they would 
not give it." The bishops and clergy, " after two or three 
days' deliberation, and no slight grumbling," were 122q 
obliged to consent, lest they should be excommuni- Papai 
cated. The Pope's chaplain exacted what he could extortions - 
get in such a harsh and unjust way that it increased the 
discontent ; he even made the clergy pay the tenth part of 



210 guest's exglish history. 

the value of the corn which Mas still growing green in the 
fields. The bishops had to sell or pawn the sacred sacra- 
mental cups and other valuables out of the churches, and 
Roger says that only "one circumstance gave some slight 
consolation and comfort," which was, that other countries 
were in the same plight as themselves, and were being taxed 
and tormented in the same way by the head of the Christian 
Church. 

Throughout this long reign the subject is met with over 
and over again, — the extortions of the Pope. One day at 
Rome the Pope saw some English clergymen very hand- 
somely dressed, having their vestments trimmed with fine 
gold fringe. He asked where this splendid fringe was made; 
and, being told, he exclaimed, k> Of a truth, England is a 
garden of delights; truly it is an inexhaustible well in 
which many things abound; from which many things may 
be extorted." So he immediately sent out sacred letters to 
the abbots in England forthwith to send him some of this 
golden fringe to ornament his own vestments, but sent no 
money to pay for it. The English abbots had to do that 
part of the business, "but it struck many with detestation 
of the evident avarice of the Roman Church," says Matthew 
Paris, another monk of St. Alban's, who tells us this story. 
All the men who wrote histories at this time were monks, 
but when we read what they say about the avarice and 
extortion of the Pope and his servants and legates, we might 
suppose their narratives had been written by Protestants. 

Up to this time there were few differences in belief in 
England, yet there is little doubt that these extortions 
paved the way for the Reformation by alienating the hearts 
Indi - of the people, and doing away their respect for the 
tion in Pope. The Pope also sent Italian clergymen to 
England, ^g possession of the best livings in England. 
People began to rise up against this. Letters were sent all 
over the country to the bishops and clergy, urging them to 
resist. They were anonymous, but the writers said of them- 
selves that "they would rather die than be put to shame by 
the Romans." The public discontent was shown by vio- 
lence, and armed men began to go about. One of the rich 
Roman clergymen, who had been made canon of St. Paul's, 
was seized and hidden away, none knew by whom. After 
about five Aveeks he made his appearance again, safe and 
sound, though, as was said, with his purse emptied. An- 



RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 211 

other, whose barns and granaries were well stored, was 
likewise visited by some armed men, who emptied the barns 
for him, "sold the corn on good terms for the benefit of 
the whole district, and charitably gave a portion of it to the 
poor." 

At one time the king, the nobles, the bishops, and others 
joined in sending a protest against the Pope's extortions and 
injustice ; but Henry was too weak to keep firm, and was 
soon frightened into taking part with the Pope again. But 
though Stephen Langton was dead, many of the English 
bishops and archbishops followed in his footsteps, and strug- 
gled nobly for English freedom both in Church and State. 
Matthew Paris relates of an archbishop of York whom the 
Pope excommunicated : "The archbishop endured all the 
tyranny of the Pope with patience, and did not despair of 
receiving consolation from heaven. Neither would he bestow 
the rich revenues of the Church on unknown and unworthy 
persons from beyond the Alps" (meaning the Italian clergy), 
"nor submit, like a woman, to be bent to the will of the 
Pope. . . . On which account, the more he was cursed 
by orders of the Pope, the more he w r as blessed by the 
people." 

Men naturally lost their respect for a Church the head of 
which showed himself so unworthy of respect, and 
began to lose their respect for religion also. The IrreIl S 10n - 
mass of the people at this time were very irreligious. Prob- 
ably the Pope's interdict had had this result. To shut the 
churches, and to silence both prayer and sermon, could not 
have been improving to the people; This was not only in 
England. The whole history of Europe at this period is full 
of similar instances. Consequently religion was everywhere 
at a low ebb. 

But there arose two great saints in this dark time to arouse 
the world from its sins and its sleep. One of these was an 
Italian, the other a Spaniard; and though they did not go 
to England themselves, a great many of their followers did, 
and gained a wonderful influence over the people. The Ital- 
ian saint was called Francis, and though we may, 
perhaps, think him mistaken or credulous, he was St,Francis ' 
beyond doubt a true and noble saint. He was all made up 
of purity, self-denial, humility, and love. He saw the pride 
and luxury and avarice of the clergy, and he called on his 
followers to renounce these vices. Though the son of a rich 



212 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

man, lie gave up all he had, and took poverty for his bride. 
His heart overflowed with love to Christ, to Christ's brothers 
on earth, the poor and the sick and the afflicted, and even to 
the birds and beasts. Here are sentences from a little ser- 
mon which he preached to the birds. "My little sisters," 
he said, as they sang and twittered around him, " you have 
talked long enough ; it is my turn now ; listen to the word 
of your Creator and be silent." "My little brothers, you 
should love and praise the Author of your being, who has 
clothed you with feathers, and given you wings wherewith to 
fly where you will. You were the first created of all animals. 
He preserved your race in the ark. He has given the pure 
atmosphere for your dwelling-place. You sow not, neither 
do you reap. Without any care of your own, He gives you 
lofty trees to build your nests in, and watches over your 
young. Therefore give praise to your bountiful Creator." 

All the wild animals loved him, and it is no wonder that 
those who Avere gentlest and noblest among men attached 
themselves to him also. 

The Spanish saint was named Dominic. Many beautiful 
pictures are still to be seen of him ; and he too was passion- 
ately followed by many holy men; but he thought 
St. Domi- more f the form of doctrine, and in the end his fol- 
lowers wrought much evil in the world. But now 
these two great men, one of whom has been called the Apos- 
tle of Faith, and the other the Apostle of Works, stood out 
against the pride, the love of money, the cruelties, and the 
sins of the Church and the world. They both longed earnest- 
ly to save souls. For this they both renounced all worldly 
advantages, and devoted themselves with all their powers, 
and crowds of followers gathered round them. For in their 
hearts men love self-sacrifice and devotion more than sloth 
and ease; they have the divine spark within them, however 
deeply buried, which is ready to kindle up when the sacred 
flame is visible in the life of another. So there Avere found 
many Avho Avere ready to folloAV the call, and to take up the 
cross. 

They Avere called brothers; in French, " freres ; " in the 
French-English, "friars." Numbers of them came to Eng- 
land. The Dominicans or preaching friars Avore 
The fnars. b] . K , k roDes> an fl were ca n e d Black Brothers, or 

Black Friars ; they had a monastery near Blackfriars' Bridge, 
which still bears their name. The Franciscans Avore grey 



RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 213 

dresses, and were called Grey Friars. These friars went 
about among the ignorant, neglected people, preaching ear- 
nest sermons; and the people crowded to listen. It was a 
great religious "revival," and more stirring because, in such 
contrast to the ignorance all around, than those we some- 
times see now. Poor, barefooted, and humble, the friars 
lived and worked among the sick and needy, and their lives 
were a sermon. In those days, when people were ignorant 
of sanitary laws, in regard to drainage, cleanliness, and ven- 
tilation, there were many terrible diseases of which we know 
nothing now except by hearsay ; leprosy, for instance, was 
common. The brothers of St. Francis devoted themselves 
to tending and comforting these wretched sufferers. Tims 
religion began to be felt again as a reality among men. 

But the great fault of the Dominicans soon began to show 
itself. Not content with preaching what they thought was 
the truth, they by and by joined with the Pope and the 
bishops in persecuting those who did not believe as they did. 
It never occurred to them that they might, perhaps, be mis- 
taken themselves ; nor that, as long as people lived innocent 
lives, no one had the right to ill-treat them for their opinions. 
The Dominicans made a pun on their name, which, in Latin, 
if divided, means Dogs of the Lord — Domini-canes; and 
they thought it a great part of the business of good dogs to 
harass and kill the wolves, or heretics, even though these 
"wolves" were often very harmless and very good people. 
A cruel persecution was carried on at this'time in the south 
of France against some heretics who were really much better 
Christians than their persecutors. But as yet there were no 
wolves or heretics in England. A very few poor Germans 
had come into the country in the time of Henry II., who 
seem to have been almost what we should call Protestants 
now ; but they had been most cruelly treated, and had made 
no converts. 

Another great step was now made, which was in due time 

to help the coming reformation ; and that was the advance 

of learning and education, and especially the growth 

of the universities. Strange to sav, there is no cer- Advance of 
, • , , n ,. , , s . . ■"- . , . ,. education. 

tain knowledge of the beginning ot either that of 

Oxford or Cambridge. It has often been said that King- 
Alfred founded the University of Oxford. But this is not 
believed by modern scholars, and many other things are 
placed to his credit with which he really had nothing to do. 



214 GUEST'S ENGLISH H1STOEY. 

But at this time Oxford began to be famous, and crowded 
with scholars and teachers. Instead of studying theology 
solely, scholars turned their attention to other things ; they 
began to read the thoughts of great and wise men of old — 
men who had lived long before Christ ; men of other reli- 
gions, and other habits of thought. They also began 
o?nature to stut ty m01 ' e accurately mathematics and natural 
science, as astronomy and optics. That is to say, 
they begun to learn something of the way the world is made, 
and the natural laws which govern it. When we say natu- 
ral laws, we can mean only God's laws — the laws which Pie 
made for the powers of nature, and which He does not change. 

With the study of science the decline of superstition 
began. The story is told that the hand of St. Thomas 
(which he put in our Lord's side) was kept in a vessel in a 
certain city, and by it the people of that city made their 
judgments. "For when there is any dissension between 
two parties, both parties write their cause in two bills and 
put them in the hand of St. Thomas; and, anon, he casts 
away the bill of the wrong cause, and holds still the bill with 
the right cause." Another tells of a little society of wild 
ducks which were under the protection of a particular saint ; 
and if any injury befell the Church or the clergy they with- 
drew from the pond which they generally inhabited, and 
would not return till condign punishment had overtaken the 
offenders. Meanwhile, during their absence, the waters of 
the pond, which were before very limpid and clear, became 
putrid. 

We know how frightened everybody was when there was 
an eclipse of the sun or moon, or if a comet appeared. They 
thought it a sure si2;n that something fearful was Lroino- to 
happen. 

But now we have learned something about the laws of the 
universe, and we know that no divine power is interfering 
with those laws. How grandly David writes of this : — 

"Praise Him, sun and moon: 
Praise Him, all ye stars of light. 
Praise Him, all ye heavens, 
And ye waters that are above the heavens. 
Let them praise the name of the Lord : 
For He spake the word, and they were made; 
He commanded, and they were created. 
He hath made them fast for ever and ever: 
He hath given them a law which shall not be broken." 



RELIGION AND EDUCATION. 215 

Astronomers have now learned enough of this law which 
shall not be broken that they can foretell an eclipse and pre- 
dict the appearance of a comet, and assure ns that these 
phenomena are entirely unconnected with human affairs. 
Thus we may hope that studying the laws of nature is really 
studying the laws and thought of God ; and it raises us above 
those foolish ideas which make God and the saints seem to 
be changeable and uncertain, sometimes even childish and 
revengeful. 

It was ahout this time that an eminent Englishman named 
Roger Bacon began to study what we now term 
natural philosophy. He took an interest in every- 5° ge £ 
thing, from the sun and the stars down to the com- 
mon dust. His life and his discoveries are much obscured by 
fables, owing to the general ignorance of the time. He was 
supposed by the vulgar to be a magician with supernatural 
powers. It has been supposed that he first invented tele- 
scopes, which give such wonderful revelations of the distant 
heaven above us. He is also said to have invented gun- 
powder, although neither of those claims can be established 
beyond doubt; but his writings show that he knew the prin- 
ciples upon which telescopes were constructed (as by Galileo, 
two hundred years later), and that he was acquainted with 
the composition of gunpowder, learned, perhaps, from the 
Chinese. 

In most departments of thought he was the foremost man 
of his age, and, as a consequence, he spent many years in 
prison. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE PARLIAMENT. 



The foreigners. The king's extravagance. Demands for money. The barons 
resist. Simon de Montfort. The parliament. Character of Prince Edward. 
The last Crusade. 

As the young king grew up, lie soon began to affront his 
nobles and all his subjects by his extravagance and love of 

foreigners. His mother had come from Angouleme, 
eie-ners" an ^ ne ' umse ^5 after a time, married a princess from 

Provence, and crowds of their relations and depen- 
dents came to England. Henry, who was too amiable to say 
"No," received them all kindly, enriched them, and honored 
them. He brought in other Frenchmen himself, who were 
" poor and covetous after wealth." " These men," says Roger 
of Wendover, " used their utmost endeavors to oppress the 
natural English subjects and nobles, calling them traitors, 
and accusing them of treachery to the king; and he, simple 
man that he was, believed their lies, and gave them the 
charge of all the counties and baronies, as also of all the 
youth of the nobility, both male and female, who were foully 
degraded by ignoble marriages." One of these foreigners, 
who did much mischief, was made Bishop of Winchester, 
and " nothing was done in England but what the Bishop of 
Winchester and this host of foreigners determined on," 
Roger complains. 

The king's foolish extravagance kept him always in want 
of money. His sister Isabella was married to the Emperor 

of Germany, and her wedding ornaments and trous- 

seau were so splendid that they " appeared to sur- 
pass kingly wealth." "She shone forth with such a profu- 
sion of rings and gold necklaces, and other splendid jewels, 
with silk and thread garments, and other like ornaments 
which usually attract the gaze and excite the desires of 
women, that they appeared invaluable." He also tells of 
her beautiful bed, and the fine sheets and pillows she had, 

216 



THE PARLIAMENT. 217 

and of her cups and dishes of the purest gold and silver, 
" and what seemed superfluous to every one, all the 
cooking-pots, large and small, were of pure silver." Extrava- 
She was provided, too, with many fine horses, hav- 
ing their saddles and bridles elaborately gilt and embroi- 
dered. 

The Chronicle of Roger of Wendover ends here very 
patriotically, for he takes a pride in tracing up the pedigree 
of Isabella, through Henry I.'s wife, Matilda, to "the re- 
nowned King Alfred (leaving out all mention of the Con- 
queror William), and through Alfred back to Adam, adding 
that, being " descended from such ancestors, she was in every 
respect worthy of a marriage with the emperor." 

The splendid outfit which Henry gave his sister, including 
the silver saucepans, must certainly have cost a great deal 
of money; as did his own marriage festival, which was very 
magnificent. He got as much money as he could out of the 
people by all sorts of means ; but though he made them very 
angry, he could not get enough. He was in debt ; he was 
obliged to summon the nobles together to see what he could 
obtain from them. 

The Chronicle was continued by another and cleverer 
monk of St. Albans, who went on writing the history of the 
times he lived in after Roger left off, and who is generally 
called Matthew Paris. 

He tells us that on the summons of the king the nobles 
assembled " in a countless multitude," being told that they 
were wanted "to arrange the royal business, and 
matters concerning the whole kingdom." But The^bles 
when they met together they found out that the are sum- 
" royal business " was to ask for a thirtieth part of mone ' 
their whole property. The king's clerk spoke for him very 
pitifully and meekly. He made a few excuses, and then 
said, "The king is now destitute of money, without which 
any king is indeed desolate ; he therefore humbly demands 
assistance of you in money." 

It is not wonderful that the nobles, " not expecting any- 
thing of this sort, murmured greatly," and at last replied 
with indignation. They said they were oppressed 
on all sides ; constantly paying such large sums of Dlscontent - 
money; and " they declared that it would be unworthy of 
them, and injurious to them, to allow a king so easily led 
away, who had never repelled nor even frightened one of 



2l8' GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY, 

the enemies of the kingdom, even the least of them, to ex- 
tort so much money so often, and by so many arguments, 
from his natural subjects, as if they were slaves of the 
lowest condition." They also said that they ought to help 
in choosing the king's counsellors and ministers. 

The king excused himself by saving he had spent so much 
money on his own marriage and his sister's marriage. To 
which they openly replied that he had done all this without 
the advice of his subjects, and they ought not to share the 
punishment as they were innocent of the crime. 

This is a very important point to notice, because it involves 
another of the great principles which the English kings 
and the nation contended about at intervals for 
axation. cen t ur i eg . namely, that the people who pay the 
money ought to have a voice in the spending of it; that the 
government is not to impose taxes without stating what the 
money is wanted for, and hearing whether the country — 
the people w T ho are to pay — approve it or not. That is firmly 
settled now. The government cannot lay a tax without 
saying what it is wanted for; and the House of Parliament, 
which represents the country, has the right to deny it. 
This was, however, quite a new idea in the time of Henry 
III. Before that, the king and his ministers levied the taxes 
as they thought lit. A weak and extravagant king might 
lay on unjust and heavy taxes for foolish purposes. So 
there is no doubt the barons were right in demurring to the 
demand. 

In the end the king submitted to the advice of his sub- 
jects, proclaimed Magna Charta over again, and made other 
good promises, which pleased everybody so much that they 
gave him the money he asked for. But in about five years 
afterwards he wanted money again ; he had broken all his 
promises, and no one knew what had become of the money. 
This time the nobles were still more angry, and bound them- 
selves by a solemn oath to give the king no more. 

But a great good was gradually working out of the evil. 

The more money the king demanded, the more rules the 

bai - ons made to limit his power. Parliament beoan 

Parliament. tQ mQet mQVQ froqucntly# T]l J s word u Parliament " 

was quite new in English history at the time we are speak- 
ing of. It is from the French, and means "talking" or 
making speeches. It is not so good a word as the old- 
fashioned " Witan " or " Witenagemot," the assembly of wise 



THE PARLIAMENT. 219 

men, but in time the body grew more and more like the old 
assemblies of the Anglo Saxons. One great change in this 
direction was made at this time. The Council, or Witan, had 
consisted of great lords, bishops, abbots, and the like. They 
helped the king to make the laws and appoint the taxes. 
But the smaller country gentlemen, knights and yeomen, had 
to help in paying taxes, and it was asked why they were not 
to have a voice in the spending.* 

There were difficulties in the way. England being now 
one country, under one king, instead of consisting of num- 
bers of little tribes, there was no place where such £ epresent _ 
a multitude could assemble. Nor would they desire ative gov- 
to make a long journey to London, or wherever the ernment - 
Parliament might be held. It was therefore provided that 
these country gentlemen and knights, of whom there were a 
great many in every county, might choose two or three of 
their number to go to Parliament, and bid them speak for 
them. Those who were thus chosen to represent the others 
were called "knights of the shire." And so they are still, 
and this is the beginning of what is called " representative 
government." 

These knights of the shire or county had already been 
called up sometimes to the meetings of the council before 
now ; but there were also other people who had to help pay 
the taxes, and very rich people too, who had never yet been 
allowed to say a word, either as to the laying them on, or 
the spending of them. They were not nobles or knights, nor 
were they owners of land. They were the rich merchants 
and tradesmen in the towns. The Lord Mayor of London, 
indeed, was already considered a very important person, and, 
as we saw, was one of the twenty-five who had been appointed 
to harass the king. But now, towards the end of Henry 
III.'s reign, the inhabitants of the large towns were called 
on to elect men to speak their mind in Parliament, and to 
look after their interests. This also goes on to the present 
day. There is the same kind of Parliament now that was 
summoned in this reign. The king or queen presides; 
there are the lords of England, the bishops and archbishops ; 
there are the county members, the " knights of the shire ; " 
and there are the borough members, elected by the towns. 

*In old times (see p. 42) every freeman had been entitled to a place 
in the great assembly of his tribe. 



220 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

The principal alterations which have been made since that 
time have been only in giving to more and more of the 
people the right of voting for members.* 

We cannot suppose that great changes like these were 

brought about without a struggle. The king and the barons 

at last came to open war. Very singularly, the man 

_,. 1263. wno headed the barons, and foueht for English 

Civil W3X ™ ™ 

freedom, was by birth a Frenchman, but he had 
large estates in England, and had married the king's sister. 
He was Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. 
M iD ntf rt '^ ne king, who was now growing old, had a brave 
helper in his eldest son Edward. Edward naturally 
took his father's part, and. fought in his cause, but he had 
good sense enough to see how much wisdom there was on 
the other side, and when lie became king he did not follow 
his father's example, but rather trod in the steps of his uncle, 
Simon de Montfort. 

Two great battles took place between the king and the 
earl. The first was at Lewes, and in it Simon was victorious, 
and the king and his son were made prisoners. It was 
while the king was his prisoner that Earl Simon was able to 

1265 settle the principle of the representation of the 
His parlia- towns in Parliament. Very soon after his famous 

ment. p ar ii ame nt was held, Prince Edward contrived to 
escape. He soon put himself at the head of an army, and 
fought with Simon at Evesham. This battle was won by 
Edward ; the old King Henry Avas rescued, and Simon Mas 
slain. 

" Thus ended the labors of that noble man, Earl Simon," 
writes an old historian, " who gave up not only his property, 
but also his person, to defend the poor from oppression, and 
for the maintenance of justice and the rights of the king- 
dom. " He adds that the earl was distinguished both for 
learning and for piety, and that he put great confidence in 
the prayers of religious men. He was so loved and honored 
by the people that after his death he was said to be a saint, 
and it was reported that many miracles were wrought at his 
tomb. His great work was never undone, though he died in 
the hour of defeat. 

It seems an unfortunate mistake that this Edward is always 

*And the struggle for the extension of the franchise (towards 
democracy) is still going on in 1S85. — En. 



THE PARLIAMENT. 221 

called Edward I., since there had been already three English 
kings named Edward, though he was the first who 
had borne the name since the Norman Conquest, j^anl'i 
The first Edward was the son of Alfred, and a very 
glorious king, who ought not to be forgotten. The third 
was Edward the Confessor, whom both English and French 
regarded with great deference, and after whom this Edward 
was named. 

His reign was a very prosperous and happy one for Eng- 
land. He was a true Englishman ; he loved his people, and 
his people loved him. lie was not by any means a 
perfect character ; but a man need not (happily) be Hl a s c {^ r ar " 
quite perfect to be loved and honored, and act a 
noble part in life. He had already won the admiration and 
confidence of the nation before his father's death, though he 
had done some fierce and cruel things. He was tall and 
handsome. In his youth he was fair, and had yellow hair, 
but as he grew older we are told that "he was swarthy, and 
the hair of his head black and curled;" in his old age it was 
snow-white. He was brave, clever, and affectionate. Ed- 
ward was a most loving son to his weak but kindly father. 
It was he who brought from abroad the rare and costly 
marbles which decorate his father's beautiful tomb in West- 
minster Abbey. In the battle of Lewes, where he and the 
king had been made prisoners, he had shown himself very 
fierce and revengeful, especially against the men of London. 
But he could be forgiven for that, because a little while 
before they had insulted and endangered his mother. He 
was also a most affectionate husband. 

Edward had another great virtue — he loved truth and 
honesty. The insincerity of kings has been proverbial. 
The Pope thought he had a right to release people from 
keeping their promises, and even their solemn oaths. Dur- 
ing the later part of Henry III.'s reign when Simon de 
Montfort and the barons had made him and Edward swear 
to redi'ess the grievances of the nation, and to govern 
according to law, the Pope sent over word to absolve them 
from keeping the oath. King Henry profited by the absolu- 
tion ; but Edward would not follow his example. He had 
chosen for his motto two very plain English words : " Keep 
troth." 

Edward was not perfect, and as his life went on he did 
not always "keep troth;" but at the bottom of his heart he 



222 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was sincere. He fell into faults sometimes, but lie recovered 
himself, and would frankly own when he had been wrong. 

Edward was a true image of chivalry. He wanted to be 
a perfect " knight ; " and he had both the good and the bad 
parts of that character. At one time, before he was king, 
whilst he Avas engaged with a troop of men in restoring 
order, he heard of a famous robber in a wood near. This 
man, Adam de Gordon, was reputed to be strong and brave; 
and Edward, who was also strong and brave, longed to try 
which could fight best in single combat. Instead of allow- 
ing the two little armies to join in battle, he forbade them 
to interfere, so that he and the robber chief might fight it 
out between them. After a long conflict Edward got the 
better, but he was so delighted with the skill and valor of 
the man that he advised him to surrender himself, promising 
him his life and a good fortune. This robber was, in fact, 
a gentleman by birth, who in the wars had lost all his prop- 
erty, and had taken to a wild life; but he now threw away 
his arms and surrendered to the prince. Edward kept his 
word, restored his inheritance, and became his faithful 
friend. 

At another time Edward went to a great tournament in 
France. He had a thousand followers ; but the French- 
man who had challenged him canie with nearly two thou- 
sand. The English began to see that the Frenchmen had 
deceived them ; it was not to be a gentle passage at arms, 
but a real fight; and they were but one to two. But they 
behaved like men, and defended themselves gallantly. Ed- 
ward was attacked in a furious way by the French count; 
but he sat like a rock, and at the right moment fell in his 
turn on the count, till he made him cry for mercy. This 
story shows the dark side of chivalry as well as its heroic 
one. In the affray we hear that the knights who fell were 
saved alive, but the poor followers, the men who fought on 
foot, were killed, " because they were but rascals, and no 
great account was made of them." 

As for Edward's ability, we will only quote what Baker 
says of him. "He had in him the two wisdoms — not often 
found in any singly; both together, seldom or never — an 
ability of judgment in himself, and a readiness to hear the 
judgment of others." 

He was married some years before his father's death. 
His wife was a Spanish princess, named Eleanor. " The 



THE PARLIAMENT. 223 

king gave orders," says Matthew Paris, "that she should be 
received with the greatest honor and reverence at 1254 
London, as well as at other places ; but especially His mar- 
at London, where her arrival was to be celebrated na S e - 
by processions, illuminations, ringing of bells, songs, and 
other special demonstrations of joy and festivity. On her 
approaching that city, therefore, the citizens went to meet 
her, dressed in holy-day clothes, and mounted on richly- 
caparisoned horses ; and when the noble daughter-in-law of 
the king arrived at the place of abode assigned her, she 
found it hung with palls of silk ami tapestry like a temple, 
and even the floor was covered with arras." This seems to 
have been the first time Englishmen had ever seen a carpet 
on the floor ; they were still content with hay and rushes, 
as Beeket had been; for Matthew Paris adds, "This was 
done by the .Spaniards, according to the custom of their 
country ; but this excessive pride excited the laughter and 
derision of the people." 

Eleanor proved a most sweet and loving wife, and Edward 
was devotedly attached to her. When, at last, after many 
years of happy life, she died at some distance from London, 
either in Lincolnshire or Nottinghamshire, the king brought 
her body to Westminster to be buried. That was a lono- 
journey in those days, when the roads were bad, and they 
had to rest several nights on the way. At each place where 
they halted for the night King Edward afterwards caused a 
monument to be set up. The Gothic architecture was in its 
prime, and these monuments were very beautiful. One of 
them still stands by the side of a road' near Northampton ; 
it is richly ornamented with sculptured niches and statues 
of Queen Eleanor. The last place they stopped at was a 
little village between London and Westminster, and there 
too a beautiful monument was set up. It was said that it 
was called " the dear queen's cross." In those days the 
kings and queens still talked French more than English, so 
this name was in French " Chere Peine; " and we may still 
see a model of Edward's monument at Charing Cross, with 
the " dear queen's " images on it. But though this would 
be a very pretty derivation for the name, it appears that 
little village had been called Charing long before. 

After Simon de Montfort's death, and when all was quiet 
in England, Prince Edward went on a. Crusade to 
the Holy Land, accompanied by his wife. This was 1271, 



224 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOBY. 

the ninth and last Crusade. Like all the others, there was 
much bravery and self-devotion, as well as much suffering. 
But the Christian powers could not win back Jerusalem. 
By degrees the kings of Europe began to realize that they 
had better stay at home and govern their own kingdoms, 
than wander away, spending their own lives and their 
people's lives on what seemed at last only a beautiful 
dream. 

Though the Crusades engendered so much pride, jealousy, 
and cruelty, and though so many noble lives were wasted, 
they were not wholly evil in their results. They led people 
to travel, and to see other countries and other races of men ; 
and this must have made some of them larger-hearted, as 
King Richard had learned to sec the nobleness of the 
Mohammedan Saladin. 

Edward was still abroad when his father died, and he by 
no means hastened his return, for it was not till August, 1274, 
that he made his appearance in England. 

The coronation feast was characteristic of a nation of good 
feeders. Orders were sent to provide 380 oxen, 430 slice] >, 
450 pigs, 18 wild boars, and more than 19,000 fowls and 
capons. He and his queen were welcomed with the greatest 
joy and honor : " the streets were hung with rich cloths of 
silk and arras and tapestry ; the aldermen of the city threw 
out of their windows handfuls of gold and silver, to signify 
the great gladness they had conceived of his safe return ; the 
conduits ran plentifully with white wine and red, that each 
creature might drink his fill." Besides the aldermen's gold 
and silver, 500 great horses, on some of which Edward and his 
followers had ridden to the banquet, were let loose among 
the crowd, any one being at liberty to take one for his own, 
as he could. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

EDWARD I. — ENGLAND AND WALES. 

Edward's government. Dispute about taxation. Humphrey Bohun. The old 
over-lordship of England in Wales and Scotland. The Welsh people. Con- 
quest of Wales. 

Edward set his mind to govern his people well, and for 
their good and happiness. Though he had fought against 
Simon de Montfort, yet he now clearly saw that 
his plans had been for the real advantage of the 
country, and he carried them out himself. He summoned 
Parliaments such as Simon had summoned, consisting of 
the lords and bishops, the county members, and the town 
members. 

At present it is an honor to be a member of Parliament, 
and men of the highest social rank do not hesitate to solicit 
votes from the electors, but in those days it was con- jjdward's 
sidered a great burden. It was very difficult to o;et parlia- 

• Tnon + c 

the members to attend ; the towns did not like the ' 

expense of sending representatives (who were paid in those 
days), and it was quite difficult to assemble them together. 
People did not know the good that was to come of it. It is 
often only one wise man who first sees what is the right 
thing to do, as the world slowly changes ; he is generally 
thought to be a fool or mad. Perhaps he loses his life, like 
De Montfort, or is censured and imprisoned for years, as 
Roger Bacon was. But by and by his ideas tell; a few 
people begin to understand them; then more and more; at 
last his wise thought is believed by everybody — it becomes 
a sort of common-place; and in the end the truth prevails. 
Another class, the clergy, who might have sat in Parlia- 
ment refused. There were bishops in the upper house, and 
there might have been clergymen in the lower, but they 
would not enter, and now the right exists no longer. A 
clergyman can vote, but he is not eligible to sit as a member 
of the lower house. This is probably a wise rule. For 

225 



226 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

highly as the clergy are to be respected in their own sphere, 
in teaching and studying, in earing for the poor and in visit- 
ing the sick, it has been found in all countries that they are 
not good at governing. We have seen enough of the Pope's 
government ; and when Protestant and Puritan clergy got 
into power (as they did once in Scotland) it was not well, 
either for themselves or the country. 

But though Edward fully approved of the new Parliament, 

allowing all the principal classes of people to be represented, 

there was one thing which he was loth to consent 

The taxes. t( ^ w |^ c ^ wag) t j iat no taxes suou } c | b e laid on 

without the consent of the people. He had a masterful 
temper, and he wished to impose taxes as he thought lit. 
He was not a selfish, extravagant, and foolish king, like his 
father, and very likely would have laid fair taxes, and for 
right purposes. But the barons knew better than to give 
up the right they had fought for and Avon. Edward was a 
good king, but who was to say what his son might be? It 
came to a struggle. There were two principal nobles who 
withstood the king, and when he obstinately held out they 
refused to obey him. He was going to Flanders on a war, 
and he ordered his nobles to follow him. They refused. 
Then the king said to one of them, Humphrey 

1297 - Bohun, Earl of Hereford, "Sir Earl, you shall 
either go or hang." But Humphrey stoutly answered, "Sir 
King, I will neither go nor hang." The end of the struggle 
was that the king owned that he was wrong, and gave in ; 
the principle was firmly established. But a king, some 
centuries after this, threw the whole country into rebellion 
and lost his own life, by trying to levy taxes without the 
consent of the people. 

Meanwhile, Edward made many salutary laws, and the 
land was peaceful and thriving. But we must now turn to 
Edward's wars. His foreign wars may be passed 
ars ' over, but his principal wars were in Great Britain 
itself, and concerned other people then dwelling in the island, 
who are now subjects of the English queen. He made up 
his mind to relinquish his claim upon France. His father 
had longed to get back his French possessions, but Edward 
now saw that was hopeless, and he turned his whole attention 
to Great Britain. 

This history has now covered a period of more than thir- 
teen hundred years. Through all these centuries there has 



EDWARD I. — ENGLAND AND WALES. 227 

been one great difference between the country's condition 
then and its condition now. Now the British Isles are thor- 
oughly one, governed by one queen and one Parlia- 
ment. It is properly called the United Kingdom of ?u e T B i rit " 
Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain, of course, 
includes England, Wales, and Scotland. The course of his- 
tory, so far, has been tending to this result. When the Eng- 
lish first came over from Germany, even England itself was 
not one. There were many different kingdoms and kings. 
Little by little these kingdoms were united. Then there was 
one principal king, and the other kings were under him ; 
afterward the other kings dropped off, and the principal 
became the only one among the English. 

But besides the English, there were many other peoples in 
the British Isles. There were three groups of Welsh people, 
in Wales, Strathclyde, and Cornwall, speaking another lan- 
guage and having many kings of their own. There were 
the Scotch, who were also divided into different classes of 
people, with their own kings and chiefs. And there were 
the Irish. As the centuries went on, some of these began 
to be united to England too. Some of the Welsh kingdoms, 
as Cornwall, and a good part of Strathclyde, were swallowed 
up, and became part of England. The greatest of the Eng- 
lish kings became a sort of head or over-lord to most of the 
others. Alfred's son, the first Edward, had been, as they 
then said, "the father and lord" of all the Scotch and all 
the Welsh, besides being king of England. The Scotch and 
the Welsh princes did homage to the English kings again 
and again, as when Edgar the Peaceable was rowed on the 
River Dee by eight tributary kings, and again when Mac- 
beth and the other Scotchmen did homage to Canute. After- 
wards Henry II. conquered Ireland, so that the movement 
seemed to be towards the united kingdom which we have 
now. 

But all this time the union had been very loose. The 
people of the smaller kingdoms could not believe that it 
would be for their good to be united in one strong body; 
each kingdom wanted still to be independent, and say, 
" Who is lord over us?" Sometimes, and indeed very often, 
the Welsh and the Scotch tried to rebel ; then trouble 
would follow, as in Edward the Confessor's reign, when 
Harold had to go twice to fight the Welsh to compel them 
to submit. 



228 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Edward I. had given up the idea of regaining his grand- 
father's lost possessions in France, and desired to become a 
sort of emperor in Britain, and that all the other princes 
should do homage to him. He saw plainly how good it 
would be for the whole island of Great Britain to be united. 
England was the largest, strongest, and richest part, there- 
fore his plan was for England to be the seat of power ; but 
he meant Wales and Scotland to be well governed by just 
and good laws. 

The Welsh, it will be remembered, were the descendants 

of the ancient Britons, whom our forefathers, the 
the Welsh English, had driven away into the western parts of 
' the island. The archdeacon, Giraldus G 1 ambrensis, 
who travelled in Ireland in the reigns of Henry II. and 
Richard I., wrote a very interesting account of Wales. He 
was indeed, as his name tells us, half a Welshman himself, 
but highly educated and living at court. His description of 
Wales he dedicated to Stephen Langton, and though it was 
written a little before the time of Edward I. it is not likely 
that things had changed much. 

. The ancient Britons had learned Christianity before the 
English came, and had never forgotten their religion. The 

Welsh Mere still considered a very religious people 
Religion. after the faghion of that time * The archdeacon 

tells us "they show a greater respect than other nations to 
churches and ecclesiastical persons, to the relics of saints, 
bells, holy books, and the cross, which they devoutly revere." 
They had an odd way of showing honor to the Trinity, 
which w r as that "they sit down by three to a dish." It was 
not usual for people to have plates to themselves, but two, 
three, or four people would share in one dish. "They give 
the first piece broken off from every loaf of bread to the 
poor." But they did not use a great deal of bread. They 
do not seem to have made much progress in civilization, and, 
like most half-civilized people, they lived more on milk, 
cheese, butter, and meat than on bread, because they knew 
and cared very little about agriculture, nor was their country 
well suited to it. 

They knew nothing of trade or manufactures. For ships 

they had little wicker boats covered with skins, just as the 

old Britons had. Such boats are still used on the 

Arts. "\y e ]^i 1 r ivers for fishing. They lived in little 
houses, made of boughs of trees twisted together, which 



EDWARD I. — ENGLAND AND WALES. 229 

would last about a year. They had neither gardens nor or- 
chards, but would gladly eat the fruit of both when given to 
them. 

Besides religion, the one thing they cared most for was 
lighting, and they seem in their way to have been very good 
warriors. They were light, active, and bold ; they 
carried light arms too ; for as Wales is full of ar are * 
mountains, and at that time was also full of bogs, heavy- 
armed men and horses could not have got on at all. If 
they ever happened to be at peace, they still "meditated on 
war," and the young men were always practising themselves 
in climbing mountains and enduring fatigues and hardships. 
They thought it a disgrace to die in bed. 

They dearly loved their country, as most mountaineers do, 
and they dearly loved their liberty ; and they liked lighting 
and plundering so well that they were very troublesome 
neighbors to the English. But still they seem to have been 
pleasant people, with tastes and ways that were very charm- 
ing and refined. They loved music as much as the Irish 
did. Their chief instrument was the harp, and Gerald 
says they could play it in a most skilful and beautiful 
way, besides which, they could sing very harmoniously in 
parts. 

They were naturally a bright, quick, clever people, and 

remarkably kind and hospitable. If a visitor came in the 

morning, he was entertained all day " with the 

conversation of young women and the music of the Ma PP e r^ 
. „ •>. ° T -. and habits. 

harp, tor every house has its young women and 

harps allotted for this purpose ; " but they certainly appear 
to have feasted the mind better than the body. They did 
not get much to eat till supper time, and even then " the 
kitchen does not supply many dishes, nor high-seasoned 
incitements to eating. The house is not furnished with 
tables, cloths, nor napkins. The dishes are placed before 
them all at once, upon rushes and fresh grass, in large 
platters or trenchers. The principal food was a sort of thin 
cake of bread, with chopped meat and broth. They were 
also very temperate in their drink. While the guests were 
eating, the host and hostess stood up, " paying unremitting 
attention to everything, and taking no food till all the com- 
pany are satisfied, that in case of any deficiency it may fall 
upon them." They also took great pains to amuse their 
visitors with witty conversation and jokes. The archdeacon 



230 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

repeats some of their jokes. One of the best of them is that 
a person, "wishing to hint at the avaricious disposition of 
the mistress of a house, said, ' I only find fault with our 
hostess for putting too little butter to her salt.' " Fearing 
one might miss the point of this joke, he kindly explains it 
by adding the learned remark, " whereas the accessory should 
be put to the principal." 

But the chief glory of the Welsh was their poetry. Some 

of their songs were bright and joyous, full of love 
oetry. f or beautiful things: for the mountains and the 
sea, the wild birds and the wild flowers, apple-blossoms and 
clover, and wood anemones, and for lovely maidens. But 
they had also songs full of war and battle, and fierce love of 
country and liberty. 

The Welsh had never ceased hating the English, or the 
" Saxons," as they called them (and call them to this day). 
Hatred of They could never forget that the whole land used 
the Eng- to belong to them, nor the cruelty of the heathen 

conquerors, who had driven them off into the wild 
region they still called their own. They still hoped that 
some day the Britons would rise again and drive the stran- 
gers away, back again to Germany. There were prophecies 
current among them, which had been handed down from 
father to son, in which it was said that their hero Arthur 
was not dead, but had been carried away into fairyland to 
be hidden and healed, and that at the right time he would 
come back and lead them all to victory. The principal of 
these old prophets was Merlin, who is a prominent character 
in Tennyson's "Idylls of the King." At that time every- 
body both in England and Wales, and in other places too, 
was very full of the thought of King Arthur and the wizard 
Merlin, because of that romantic "History of England " men- 
tioned before, which had been translated into English in the 
reign of King John, and which contained many Welsh 
legends and fairy tales, told as if they were sober truth. 

A large part of the book is taken up with Merlin's proph- 
ecies, which at that time Avere thought very wonderful ; and 
the Welsh were in a high state of excitement, believing 
that they were about to be fulfilled. All through the reign 
of Henry III., when the English country was so busy with 
its own troubles and disputes, the Welsh were growing 

stronger and fiercer. They had a brave and able 
Llewellyn. p r j nce name( j Llewellyn. One of the prophecies 



EDWARD I. — ENGLAND AND WALES. 231 

was that a prince of Wales should be crowned in London ; 
and all the Welsh hoped that Llewellyn would be the one. 
He gained some great successes while Henry was still king, 
and the other smaller princes in Wales did homage to him. 

He and his people could not endure the thought of his 
being a vassal to the king of England, and when Henry 
died, and Llewellyn was summoned to do homage to Ed- 
ward, he would not appear. He was sent for again and 
again in vain. Edward's patience was worn out at last, and 
he marched into Wales with an army. Though 
the Welsh were fiery and always ready to fight, 
they seem to have had very little perseverance. They were 
" very severe in the first attack, terrible by their clamor and 
looks, filling the air with horrid shouts, and the deep-toned 
clangor of very long trumpets. . . . Bold in the first onset, 
they cannot bear a repulse, they cannot struggle for the field 
of battle, or endure long and severe actions." "In their 
first attack they are more than men, in the second less than 
women." 

They were also faithless; they thought nothing of bi-eak- 
ing their most solemn oaths and promises; so that when 
Edward set his mind in earnest to conquer Wales he had 
not much difficulty in doing so, because the other lesser 
princes who had sworn to be faithful to Llewellyn deserted 
him. Edward brought his armies and fleets near enough to 
hem him in among the desolate mountains of Snowdon, 
without venturing too far in among them himself, and he 
had to beg for mercy. A sort of peace was made, and for 
four years it was kept. After that time the Welsh broke 
out again; there was some hard fighting, but the end of it 
waa that Edward conquered, and Llewellyn Avas killed. 
His head was cut off, and it is said that Edward 
sent it to London, had it crowned with a wreath of 
willow, and set up on the Tower in a mocking fulfilment of 
the prophecy. Soon after this, Llewellyn's brother David, 
the last of the royal family of Wales, was taken prisoner 
and most cruelly put to death. Thus Wales was 
subdued, and has ever since been looked on as part S^^gg 1 
of the English kingdom, though the Welsh did not 
submit heartily, until, after many years, in the course of 
events, a Welshman came to be King of England. 

Edward used his conquest wisely. He treated the people 
well, he governed them justly and mercifully, and intro- 



232 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

duced many of the English customs and laws, which were 
better than their own ; so that probably the Welsh were, in 
the end, better off for having been conquered. 

It used to be said that Edward, seeing what a wonderful 
influence the Welsh poets and harpers had on the people by 
their warlike songs and prophecies, collected them all to- 
gether and had them murdered. This was called "the mas- 
sacre of the bards," and there is a well-known poem about 
it, by Gray, beginning, "Ruin seize thee, ruthless king." 
But happily the story is not true, and Edward was not a 
"ruthless" or merciless king, although he sometimes had his 
enemies put to death. But in those days that was nothing 
unusual. 

It was soon after this time that the eldest son of the king 
of England was first called by the title of Prince of Wales. 
It was said that Edward, seeing how unwilling the 
The 284 ' Welsh were to submit to a foreign yoke, promised 
Prince of them that he would give them a prince of their 
Wales. own — \) 0vn [ u Wales, and who could not speak 
one word of English. The Welsh being much pleased at 
this, he presented to them his own young son, who had been 
born a few days before in Carnarvon Castle, and who, if he 
could speak no English, could certainly speak no Welsh. 
The story is rather a good one, and we might hope it is true; 
but it is not mentioned in any book written at the time. 

But even if it were true, when the Welsh accepted this 
infant as their prince he was not the eldest son, for Edward 
had already a son named Alphonso ; so they probably hopod 
that he would be the king of England, and that they would 
still have a prince of their own, though an Englishman. As 
it turned out, Alphonso died, and the young Edward of 
Carnarvon afterwards became king of England and Wales 
both. Thus Wales quite ceased to have a separate govern- 
ment; for the title of Prince of Wales, still borne by the 
eldest son of the reigning sovereign, is merely one of cere- 
mony, and does not give the prince any power over Wales, 
which is as much under the queen and the Parliament as 
any other part of Great Britain. 

After this conquest Edward performed an act which to us 
seems harsh and cruel, though it was probably con- 
Banish- sidered by himself and his subjects as most Chris- 
mentof tian and praiseworthy. This was, that he finally 
drove all the Jews out of the country. We have 



EDWARD I. — ENGLAND AND WALES. 233 

already seen how cruelly the Jews were treated ; how the 
kings extorted money from them, and how the peoj)le every 
now and then rose and massacred them. It was generally 
believed that they stole Christian children and murdered 
them in secret, and that they tried to get mysterious drugs 
from foreign lands to poison all Christendom. Though the 
kings of England had, more or less, protected them from 
the time of William the Conqueror onward, as being in some 
sort their own property, their protection did not go far, 
and many hard and tyrannical laws were enforced against 
them. We may wonder why they chose to live in England, 
since they met with such bad usage; but the fact was, that 
in other Christian countries their treatment was far worse. 

There appears to have been a religious frenzy in both king 
and people, moved by which Edward ordered all the Jews 
out of the country. Edward intended that they should leave 
in safety, and, as some say, gave them permission to take 
their property with them. The people, however, treated 
the poor Jews with shocking barbarity in their flight; and 
especially the sailors who carried them in their ships. Many 
of them were wrecked, others were robbed and flung over- 
board. One instance is given by an old chronicler, who 
says that he learned it from a manuscript written at the 
time. " Some of the richest of the Jews, being shipped in a 
mighty tall ship which they had hired, Avhen the same was 
under sail, and had got down the Thames toward the mouth 
of the river, the master mariner bethought him of a wile, 
and caused his men to cast anchor, and so rode at the same, 
till the ship, by ebbing of the stVeam, remained on the dry 
sands. The master then enticed the Jews to walk out with 
him for recreation. And at length, when the Jews were on 
the sands, and he understood the tide to be coming in, he 
gat him back to the ship, whither he was drawn by a rope. 
The Jews made not so much haste, because they were not 
aware of the danger; but when they perceived how the 
matter stood they cried to the master for help. He, how- 
ever, told them that they ought to cry rather upon Moses, 
by whose guidance their fathers had passed through the 
Red Sea. They cried indeed, but no succor appeared, and 
so they were swallowed up by the water." 

Edward severely punished these murderers; but it is to 
be feared that very few T of the sixteen thousand Jews who 
were driven away reached the mainland in safety. It was 



234 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

about three hundred and fifty years from this time before 
any Jews were allowed to come back ; but now, as we know, 
as many as like live peaceably in England; some very rich, 
some very poor, but all protected by the laws, and enjoying 
the same liberty, comfort, and safety as those of the English 
race. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



EDWARD I. SCOTLAND. 



The inhabitants of Scotland. The old laws. Candidates for the crown. Edward 
claims the over-lordship. John Balliol. The first revolt. The first Conquest. 
The stone of destiny. 

Scotland, though much smaller than England, was far 
larger, more powerful, and more civilized than Wales. The 
people also were very different. The Welsh, though The _ eop i e 
brave, and fond .of fighting, had not much perse- of Scot- 
verance ; they were easily daunted. There were a an " 
good many of the very same race in Scotland also, the 
Welsh of the northern part of Strathclyde, which was part 
of Scotland ; and if the whole country had been peopled by 
them, perhaps England would, after a while, have subdued 
them all. But Scotland contained men who were by birth 
English, Irish, and Normans, though they were now all called 
Scotchmen. 

The real Scots were in fact Irish. In very old times 
Ireland, or part of Ireland, was called Scotia, and the Irish 
people were called Scots. A great many of these had 
crossed over the narrow sea which divides the two countries, 
and had settled in the northern part of what we now call 
Scotland. Here they found a great many wild people living, 
who were most likely a family of Celts, also called Picts, 
and the Romans tell us what trouble these two set's of wild 
men gave them.* It was to keep out the Picts and Scots 
that Agricola had built his great wall. When they were not 
fighting the Romans or the Britons, no doubt they spent 
most of their time in fighting each other ; and in some way 
or other the Scots got the mastery of the Picts; a Scot king- 
became king over them all, and the whole country north of 
the Forth and the Clyde was called Scotland. The people 

* The Celtic Picts (so called from painting their bodies — pictce) 
were styled Caledonians by the Romans in the time of Agricola. — Ed. 



■1 \Q GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

in this kingdom were therefore nearly related to the Irish, 
and spoke almost the same language. The Highland Scotch 
still have a language of their own, called "Gaelic," but it is 
almost exactly tike the native Irish language, and both Irish 
and Gaelic are more like Welsh than like English ; they are 
all three Celtic dialects. 

When the Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain they not only 
took possession of what is now called England, but of a good 
part of what we now call Scotland also. The old Anglian 
kingdom of Northumberland stretched from the Huniber to 
Agrieola's wall. Edwin, the first Northumbrian king who 
became a Christian, had built a strong fortress on the north- 
ern boundary of his dominions to keep out the wild Scots, 
which was called Edwin's borough, or Edinburgh. Thus all 
this part of Scotland, except to the west, where the Welsh 
lived, was part of England, and full of Englishmen : the 
very same people whose descendants live there now. As is 
Avell known, there is to this day a great difference between 
the Scotch Highlanders and Lowlanders; the Highlanders 
being Celts, and speaking a Celtic language ; and the Low- 
landers, Anglo-Saxons, and speaking English, or a dialect of 
English. The English language is now spreading through 
the whole country, and all educated Highlanders, and many 
of the poor also, speak it ; but it can hardly be called their 
native tongue. 

After a time the Danes and Northmen came and took 
possession of the islands and northern parts of Scotland, and 
many of their descendants still live there. By degrees the 
Scot cli kings got the mastery over more and more of the 
Lowlands, both of Northumberland and of Strathclyde, as 
far as to the river Tweed and the Solway Firth, and Edwin's 
borough became the capital of Scotland, which would doubt- 
less have surprised Edwin very much. 

After the Norman Conquest the Scotch king showed great 
kindness to the conquered English, and married the sister of 
Edgar the Etheling, who was so religious that she was after- 
wards called St. Margaret. A great many of the English 
who were driven out of their possessions by the Normans 
took refuge in Scotland and were warmly welcomed. Many 
Normans came there too, who were also kindly received. 
Some great Norman noblemen had large estates in Scotland, 
in England, and in France also; and it is hard to say 
Avhether they were Scotchmen, Englishmen, or Frenchmen. 



EDWARD I. — S0< )TLAND. 237 

Strangely enough, Robert Bruce, who is the pride of the 
Scotch, and their ideal of a patriot, belonged to one of these 
families. 

Thus in the time of Edward I. the kingdom of Scotland 
was in size and boundaries just what it is now; and though 
it contained these different races of men, they all felt them- 
selves, and were called, Scotchmen, and were much attached 
to their country. It was probably because there were so 
many of English race among them (who have the great 
quality of perseverance, and never know when they are 
beaten) that, instead of conquering Scotland, as he did 
Wales, Edward I. wholly lost even what he had at first. 

It would have been much to our advantage if the Arch- 
deacon Gerald, who wrote such amusing and interesting 
accounts of Wales and Ireland, had travelled in Scotland 
also; but there does not seem to be any description of the 
country written at the time.* Still we can learn something 
about the manners and habits of the people from their own 
old laws, as well as from the English or other writers who 
saw them in England, even if they did not travel into Scot- 
land to see them at home. 

A great part of Scotland is very beautiful, full of moun- 
tains and lakes and wild moors and heaths. This was the 
part where the wilder people, the Highlanders, lived. Many 
hundreds of years after this time they were still uncivilized, 
and had many singular customs. At this period even the 
Lowlands seem to have been far less civilized than England, 
though, at the same time, in some respects, Scotland was 
better off than England. 

Some of the old laws of Scotland, which were at this time 
still looked on as the law of the land, though the nation had 
in reality quite outgrown them, would appear to belong to a 
savage state of society. In England, as has been stated, in 
early times a man's life was estimated in money. 
Any one who killed him had to pay a certain sum ^ s old 
to his family, according to his rank. A king was 
worth so much, an earl so much, and a plain man so much. 
The Scotch in the old times reckoned the value of a man in 
cows. The king was worth one thousand cows ; a king's 
son or an earl, one hundred and fifty. The lowest mentioned 

* Very graphic descriptions of life and manners in Scotland one 
hundred years later are to be found in Froissart. — Ed. 



238 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

is forty-four cows, and .1 little money as well. Even this 
man must have been descended from a thane, so we do not 
know what the value of a plain man, or "churl," as the 
English would have called him, might be. After a time 
they left off paying in cows, and substituted money instead ; 
and in this they thought they were making an improvement 
on God's laws, for in their uncouth dialect they take pains to 
point out the contrast. 

" All laws outhir are manis lawe, or Goddis lawe." " By 
the law of God," they go on, " a head for a head, a hand for 
a hand, an eye for an eye, a foot for a foot. By the law of 
man, for the life of a man so many ky (cows). For a foot a 
mark, for a hand as muckle, for an eye half a mark, for an 
ear as muckle, for a tooth twelve pennies," etc. 

Another of the old laws directs that if thieves had been 
plundering a monastery, the lord of that part of the country 
should help, and not hinder, the monks in trying to catch 
them ; which looks as if the lords were rather inclined to 
make common cause with the robbers, and perhaps to get 
part of the booty. 

The laws declare that the poor who were robbed should 
be put under the special protection of the king. "It is 
ordanyt at all thai, the quhilkis (which) are destitut of the 
help of al men ... sal be under the proteccions of the lord 
the kyng." So the king's own people had to plead for the 
poor man, and if it was proved that a rich man had robbed 
a poor man, he not only had to restore the goods to the 
owner, but also to pay eight cows to the king. No doubt 
that last arrangement would make the king and his servants 
zealous protectors of the poor and helpless. 

The lowest people of all were serfs ; but they do not seem 

to have been ever quite such actual slaves as they Avere in 

England and other countries, for the difference be- 

serfs. tvveen a thrall, or slave, and a churl, which was very 

well known in England, dees not seem to have been very 

clear, and the serfs could very easily become free. 

Two great grievances which came upon the English after 
the Norman Conquest were never known in Scotland at all. 
Those were the forest laws and the castles, which had caused 
such misery. Though there were some Norman noblemen 
in Scotland, they never had the power there that they had in 
England; they were rather visitors and friends than masters. 

The country on the whole was free and fairly governed. 



EDWARD I. — SCOTLAND. 239 

They had thriving towns, kept in order by their own magis- 
trates, and in which there were no slaves or serfs at all. 
The houses seem to have been built of wood, as 
they were nearly everywhere at that time, except ouses ' 
where the Jews had begun to build stone houses ; but in 
country places, and especially among the Highlanders, they 
made both houses and churches of that wattled work which 
we so often find wherever there were people of Celtic race. 
These houses were not nearly so uncomfortable as might 
be supposed, for the walls were made of double frame- 
work, with turf or earth piled in between, and were quite 
thick and substantial enough to keep out the wind and rain. 

By the time of St. Margaret, in the reign of William the 
Conqueror, they began, like the English, to learn from the 
Normans to build beautiful churches and abbeys, though 
they were too wise to let them build castles. 

In the Highlands there could not be much agriculture. 
It is impossible to plough the steep mountain sides, and corn 
will not grow on the wild moors ; but in the Low- Affr j cu i. 
lands they Avere already good farmers, though their ture and 
implements would seem very clumsy to modern 
eyes. The ploughs were so heavy that they needed twelve 
oxen to draw them ; six families would join together, each 
keeping two oxen, and owning one plough among them. 
The principal food of the poorer people was oat-cake, or 
coarse gray or brown bread ; but in the towns the richer 
people had white bread and plenty of good meat. The 
butchers were ordered to keep good beef, mutton, and pork, 
and to show it in their windows to be seen of all men ; if 
they mismanaged the meat they were punished. The bakers 
had similar orders. " And quha that bakis brede to sell, aw 
nocht (ought not) for to hide it, but sett it in their wyndow, 
or in the mercat for to be opynly sauld." We do not know 
if the grocers and other tradesmen were as eccentric as the 
bakers and butchers in wishing to hide away their goods, but 
they certainly had some commerce with foreign parts, for 
they had pepper, ginger, almonds and raisins, rice, and figs. 
They also traded in furs, and had beaver skins and sables. 

On the whole they were a hard}' race, who cared very little 
for luxuries, or what would now be called comforts. They 
were excellent soldiers in their way. This is the account 
given of them not very long after by Froissart, who saw 
them himself at a time when they were invading England : 



HW GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

"They bring no carriages with them, on account of the 
mountains they have to pass in Northumberland; neither 
do they carry with them any provisions of bread or wine, 
for their habits of sobriety are such, in time of war, that 
they will live for a long time on flesh halt* sodden (boiled), 
without bread, and drink the river water without wine. 
They have therefore no occasion for pots or pans, for they 
dress the flesh of their cattle in the skins, after they have 
taken them off; and, being sure to find plenty of them in 
the country winch they invade, they carry none with them." 
In a camp which the Scotch had just quitted, the same 
chronicler tells us that the English found, besides a quantity 
of dead cattle, "three hundred caldrons, made of leather, 
with the hair on the outside, which were hung on the tires, 
full of water and meat, ready lor boiling." It appears that 
when they were at war, and could steal other people's cattle, 
meat was the principal food, and bread or oat-cake was a 
luxury when they had too much meat. " Under the flap of 
his saddle.' 1 Froissart goes on, -each man carries a broad 
plate of metal ; behind him a little bag of oatmeal. When 
they have eaten too much o\ the sodden flesh they set this 
plate over the tire, knead the meal with water, and when the 
plate is hot put a little of the paste upon it, and make a thin 
cake like a biscuit, which they eat to warm their stomachs. 
It is therefore no wonder that they perform a Longer day's 
march than other Boldiers." 

Their horses were as hardy as themselves. The knights 
and squires were '-well mounted;" but the common men 
rode on "little hackneys, that are never tied up or dressed, 
hut turned immediately after the day's march to pasture on 
the heath or in the fields." 

Not long after, he relates that some French knights and 
barons came to Scotland as friends and allies; kw l>ut. all 
things considered," he says, "it was not righl for so many 
of the French nobility to come to Scotland, for Scotland is 
a very poor country. Whenever the English make inroads 
into Scotland, they order their provisions to follow close at 
their backs if they wish to live, for nothing is to he had in 
that country without the greatest difficulty. The knights 
and barons of France, who had been at home accustomed to 
handsome houses, richly ornamented apartments, ami good, 
soft beds, were by no means pleased at the poverty they had 
to encounter." 



EDWARD I, — SCOTLAND. 241 

Edward was likely to find some difficulty in getting the 
Upper hand of these hold and hardy people if it came to 
fighting. He resolved to try fair means first, or xhe dis- 
what he, perhaps, thought to he fair. To begin putewith 
with, he certainly had some sort of right. The En & land - 
very dispute which arose in his time, or, rather, came to a 
head in his time, is still going on among Learned men as to 
the justice of Edward's claims. We have seen that a part 
of what had once been England was now in Scotland. For 
that part the king of Scotland had to do homage to the 
king of England as his over-lord. All parties agreed to 
that. But with regard to the rest of Scotland there was a 
dispute. Edward declared that he was also over-lord of 
that. The Scotch would not agree to it, and this was the 
cause of the war. It would take too long to explain the in- 
tricacies of this question ; but it may he fairly concluded that 
there was a good deal to he said on each side, and that hoth 
thought they were in the right. 

Everything seemed to favor Edward at first. The old 
royal family of Scotland died out, and the last member of it 
was a little girl three years old, the only grand- 
daughter of the last king. It was arranged that datesfor 

she should he married to King Edward's son, which the Scotch 

crown 
would have settled everything peaceably; hut as 

she, unfortunately, died, there was a great difficulty in find- 
ing out who ought to he king, since there were no children, 
grandchildren, nephews, or nieces of the last king left. It 
was necessary to go hack a long way to find any member of 
the royal family who had left heirs. The last one who had 
done so was Earl David, brother to William the Lion, that 
king of Scotland who had been taken prisoner by the Eng- 
lish on the day when Henry II. did penance for the murder 
of Becket, more than a hundred years before. Unhappily 
for the country, Earl David had left a great many descend- 
ants, and no less than thirteen of them now came forward 
as claimants to the crown. 

As has already been noticed, the rules concerning the suc- 
cession to an inheritance were not as yet clearly settled, and 
there was a great difficulty in deciding between the rival 
candidates. The Scotch people, who do not seem to have 
had any idea of what Edward's secret purpose was, in their 
dilemma turned to him, as one of the greatest ami wisest 
kingN of the time, ami asked him to decide which of the 



242 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

thirteen had the best right to be kino- of Scotland. Bnt be- 

1291. * ore Edward would give a judgment on this matter 
Edward I. he demanded that all parties should acknowledge 
over-ford- him as over-lord of the whole of Scotland. The 
ship. nobility and clergy, apparently taken by surprise, 

and perhaps afraid of offending Edward, who had an army 
behind him, could not find anything to say against it. The 
common people cave no consent ; it was not known exactly 
what they did say, for Edward would not let their answer 
be heard, and they were not powerful enough in Scotland to 
make their opinion of any consequence. Edward, therefore, 
being satisfied, proceeded to judge among the claimants, 
who were also made to acknowledge him as lord paramount 
of the whole country. 

It was soon found that only two or three, of the thirteen, 
had any fair claim. The two principal ones were both 
descended from daughters of Earl David, and their fathers 
were Norman noblemen, with estates in Scotland ; one of 
them was named Balliol, ami the other Bruce. Edward decid- 
ed that John Balliol, who was descended from David's eldest 
daughter, had the best right, and was to be king of Scot- 
land, though only a vassal king to himself. 

This John Balliol belonged to a rich and great family ; 
he had estates in Normandy, England, and Scotland. His 
father founded Balliol College at Oxford, but he 
J ° h l?of al " hi lnse lf seems to have been a poor and feeble char- 
acter. Indeed, both his friends and enemies agree 
in calling him a fool, and in the midst of all his difficulties 
he was said to be a "lamb among wolves." It was certain 
troubles would soon arise. Whatever claim Edward might 
make as to the former kings of England having been over- 
lords of Scotland, he began to do things which none of them 
had clone, and which the proud Scotch could not brook. 
Not that he was cruel or tyrannical, for Edward meant that 
Scotland should be well ruled, but his conduct offended the 
independent spirit of the people. The courts of law in Scot- 
land w r ere no longer supreme ; if any one was not satisfied 
with the decisions of the Scotch judges, he might carry his 
case to England, and let the English judges try again. This 
was, of course, a great insult to the Scotch, and even the 
poor John Balliol protested against it. However, his over- 
lord' ioon stopped his mouth for that time. 

There was a very important case pending in t)ie Scottish 



EDWARD I. — SCOTLAND. 243 

court between some great lords, and one of them appealed 
to the king of England. Upon this Edward act u- TheScotch 
ally summoned the king of Scotland to come toareof- 
England, and appear before the English Parliament, en e " 
to answer, as he said, for denying justice. Even the English 
historian seems startled at this, and says, " This king of 
Scotland was obliged to stand at the bar like a private 
person, to answer the accusation." Imagine, then, what the 
proud Scotch people felt. 

At the same time Edward had quarrelled with the king 
of France, and the Scotch were summoned, as his 
vassals, to follow him to the war. This Avas a new themselves 
thing for an English king to demand and the Scotch with 
refused to obey. On the contrary, they and then- 
king John, made a treaty with the king of France, promis- 
ing to help him fight the English. From this time onward, 
for several centuries, there was an alliance between France 
and Scotland, and both constantly helped each other against 
the English. The Scotch helped the French at this time, 
by pouring over the border into Northumberland, and burn- 
ing and plundering as the Danes used to do. 

Edward very soon withdrew from France and went to 
Scotland. The Scotch lords made Balliol send Edward a 
writing renouncing his allegiance, and saying, in conse- 
quence of the outrages and insults he had received, he would 
no longer be his vassal, nor come to him when summoned. 
To which Edward replied, " Ha ! the foolish felon ! is he 
such a fool? If he will not come to us, we will go to him." 
And he went, taking with him what was in those days a 
large army — thirty thousand foot-soldiers and five thousand 
mounted men-at-arms. He besieged and took the 
castle and town of Berwick, which is on the border. ^6- 
Afterwards there was another fight at Dunbar, and 
a siege of Edinburgh Castle ; but that was all the resistance 
worth speaking of. It was a complete conquest. The 
poor puppet, John Balliol, was deposed. He had c onquest 
to appear before the conqueror in a most humiliat- of Scot- 
ing way, clothed in a mean dress, without royal 
robes or ornaments, and, instead of a sword, carrying in his 
hand a harmless white wand. He was then degraded from 
the kingdom and sent to England, where he was kept for a 
time in custody ; but not long afterwards he was allowed to 
leave the country in peace, and go to his estates in France, 
where he lived quietly for the rest of his days. 



244 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Edward had no wish to ill treat either Balliol or the 
Scotch, but he did fully mean to be master. He put terror 
into the people by allowing a cruel massacre after the taking 
of Berwick, but when once the country had submitted he 
showed himself merciful and just. He gave free pardon to 
all who had rebelled, as he called it, and he endeavored to 
establish order and peace everywhere. 

In Edward the Confessor's chapel in Westminster Abbey 

are to be seen two ancient chairs, one of them being very 

old and worn. These are called the Coronation 

Thesa- Chairs, and in one of them the kino; or queen of 

cred stone. „.'. . . -1^,1 <• 

England always sits to be crowned. In the seat ot 

that one there is a block of stone, not carved nor beautiful 
marble, but merely a rude block of limestone. That stone 
Edward brought from Scotland, and the loss of it nearly 
broke the hearts of the Scotch. It has a strange and poeti- 
cal history, which makes it more precious than the choicest 
piece of polished marble. This stone was called in Scotland 
the Stone of Destiny, and upon it all the Scottish sovereigns 
had sat to be crowned and consecrated. We often read in 
the early history of nations, and especially in the Bible, of 
stones being reared up as memorials of remarkable events. 
This was a sacred stone of the early Scotch people. They 
believed that it was the very stone which Jacob took for 
his pillow when he saw the ladder and the angels. They 
imagined it had been carried from Bethel to Egypt, from 
Egypt to Spain, from Spain to Ireland, from Ireland to 
Scotland. It was a magical stone, and in old times it had 
done wonderful things. 

Edward took the stone away. He had already hung up 
in the Confessor's chapel the golden crown of the Welsh 
prince ; now he placed there the royal stone of Scotland. 
The other things which Edward brought away from Scot- 
land, including a precious fragment of the true cross, which 
was called the " Holy Rood," were afterwards given back to 
the Scotch. They tried and strove to get their precious 
stone back ; but no, " the people of London would by no 
means whatever allow that to depart from themselves." 
There was an old prophecy in Scotland, that, wherever the 
stone was, the Scotch should be supreme; and when, three 
hundred years after this time, a Scotch king sat upon it, 
and was crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey, 
the Scotch had the pleasure of thinking the prophecy was 



EDWARD I. — SCOTLAND. 245 

fulfilled. Though we need not believe that Jacob's head 
ever lay upon that old stone/when we think of the long 
generations of people who have gazed upon it with rev- 
erence — the wild Irish of old, the fierce and patriotic 
Scotch, the brave and serious English — of the sovereigns 
who have been enthroned on it, from the old savage times, 
when they still thought the stone would groan aloud if a 
false pretender sat upon it, down to Queen Victoria — we 
do not wonder that the Scotch and the Londoners con- 
sidered it too precious a thing to be jjarted with. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



SCOTLAND VICTORIOUS. 



Wallace. Battle of Stirling Bridge. Tbe second conquest. Battle of Falkirk. 
Robert Bruce. His coronation. Death of Edward I. Battle of Bannockburn. 

While Edward was in Scotland lie made as many as 
possible of the great lords and bishops come forward and do 
Ik image to him again. The Scotch seem to have thought 
this a mere formal matter. Some little time afterwards the 
same ceremony was repeated, and, as Baker says, "it seems 
swearing of fealty was with the Scots but a ceremony with- 
out substance, as good as nothing; for this is now the third 
time they swore fealty to King Edward, yet all did not 
serve to make them loyal." When the king left Scotland 
he took a great many of the Scotch nobles with him, and 
the others who were left at home were carefully watched, 
lest they should incite the people to rebel; but after his 
return to England there were new troubles. The English 
began to build castles and fortresses, and did many other 
things to offend and insult the Scutch. There was a great 
deafof discontent and confusion, and the Scotch people only 
wanted a spirited leader to enable them to rise up against 
the foreign oppressors. 

Though Edward had taken away or silenced the lords and 
prominent men, such a leader soon made his appearance. 
His name was William Wallace ; a name very dear 
Wallace. to ^ g cotc h to tn ; s 3^ Wallace was neither a 
great lord nor quite a man of the people. He was rather in 
the middle rank. An old ballad says " he was cummyn of 
Gentilmen." 

" His Fadyr was a manly Knyght 
His Modyre was a Lady brycht." 

He was said to be wonderfully tall and handsome, strong 
and brave. His terrible sword was fit for an archangel 
rather than for a man. He was, no doubt, a man of remarka- 

24(3 



SCOTLAND VICTORIOUS. 247 

l)le talents also ; a leader such as the Scotch needed. The 
English contrived to affront and insult him, and at last, 
when he had already been made very furious, they burned 
down his house and killed his wife. Wallace openly re- 
A'olted, and soon collected a band of followers, with whom 
he began to harass the English. No one can help taking an 
interest in a man who is defending his native land against 
foreign oppressors, and though the English of those days 
thought him a " pestilent ruffian," a robber and marauder, 
all are agreed now in sympathizing with him, and admiring 
him as a hero and patriot. 

Until this time, ever since the feudal system had been 
established, people had thought knights on horseback to be 
invincible. A knight and his horse and his armor Kniehts 
could only be withstood by another knight with and foot- 
horse and armor. Both horse and armor were very soldiers - 
strong and very expensive ; the knight himself was brave, 
skilful, and highly trained. A leader who had many knights 
was likely to conquer one who had fewer. The rest of the 
army counted for almost nothing. Two or three such knights 
would scatter a whole troop of light-armed and untrained 
foot-soldiers. Thus the knights and the nobles grew prouder 
and called the poorer men who fought on foot " rascals," 
and made " no great account of them." The rich and the 
poor grew more and more divided ; the rich were insolent, 
the poor were depressed and slavish. 

Wallace, when he began to resist the English, had very 
few nobles or knights on his side ; many who at first seemed 
inclined to take part with him soon fell away, and submitted 
to Edward again ; almost all his people belonged to the 
peasantry. But he taught them to rely on themselves, and 
he trained them in military movements to resist and harass 
mounted men. 

Edward sent an army under the Earl of Surrey to stamp 
out the disturbances. Wallace met them at Stirling Bridge, 
the principal highway from the south to the north ; 
he determined to stop the English there. The Eng- Battle' of 
lish had one thousand men on horseback, the Scotch S li $ in £ 
only one hundred and eighty. The foot-soldiers n ge ' 
were more nearly equal, but the English had more of them 
than the Scotch. Still Wallace entirely conquered the Eng- 
lish ; the Earl of Surrey fled ; and the Scotch, taking arms 
on all sides, seized on a great many castles and fortresses, 



248 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and drove almost all the English out of the country. This 
victory was a great encouragement to the Scotch people ; 
they were vanquished many times afterwards, and had great 
troubles, but they never forgot that the English had been 
beaten once, and might be beaten again. 

Edward now determined to lead an army into Scotland 
and put the rebellion down. He had with him no less than 
seven thousand mounted men-at-arms, besides a great many 
men on foot armed in various ways. Wallace, who was not 
only a brave soldier, but a good general, did not mean to 
fight a battle witli this formidable army. His plan was to 
starve them out. Scotland being a poor country at best, it 
would always be difficult for a large foreign army to get 
food. But Wallace (and those who came after him followed 
his example) turned it into a wilderness. As the war went 
on, the people who lived in the southern counties of Scot- 
land, when they saw an army coming, all cleared out, not 
leaving one man behind, and hastened away to the north. 
They took with them everything they had, ami that was not 
much, and left a bare waste for the enemy to march through. 
They used to build little huts of turf and loose stones, which 
could easily be put up again when they came back, if the 
enemy had knocked them over. 

This must have been a very miserable life ; but the Scotch 
revenged themselves on the English whenever they conld, by 
harrying in their turn the northern counties of England, 
stealing the cattle and anything else they could find, burning 
the houses, and killing the people. Not long after this time 
the inhabitants of those northern counties were found to be 
so poor, in consequence of the ravages of the Scotch, that 
more than sixty towns and villages were excused from pay- 
ing taxes. This was the same region which William the 
Conqueror had laid waste three hundred years before. 

Wallace, then, with his army, which was very small com- 
pared with Edward's, hung about in concealment, intending, 
as soon as want of food drove the English to retreat, to fol- 
low them, harassing and doing them all the mischief he 
1298 could. But the plan failed. It is said that two 
Battle of Scotchmen, who knew where Wallace Avas, made 
Falkirk. ^ known to Edward, and he, with his great army, 
marched to the spot, which was near Falkirk, and the two 
armies confronted each other. 

Edward was a o-eneral such as the soldier loves. He was 



SCOTLAND VICTORIOUS. 249 

not a "carpet knight," who showed to most advantage in 
bowers and halls, tournaments and games. When he went 
to war he bore all that the common soldier had to bear. 
He would not drink wine when the others were thirsty and 
could get none. When they had to sleep on the bare ground 
lie lay down and slept on it too. He was not above wheel- 
ing a barrow with the rest when they were fortifying Ber- 
wick. No doubt his presence inspired his men with hope 
and enthusiasm. 

The two armies were a great contrast to one another. 
The English lords and knights Avere splendidly armed. The 
armor was beautifully enamelled and chased, and 
" looked as radiant and as delicate as the plumage armiel° 
of a tropical bird." Even the saddles and bridles 
wei'e embroidered and set thick with gems. Each lord and 
knight had his own banner, with his crest upon it, by which 
every one knew him. One would have a falcon, one a lion, 
one a swan, and so on, which he carried on his shield and 
helmet and pennon, so that in the confusion of a battle the 
leaders would be recognized even when their faces were 
hidden. Besides his large banner, a nobleman would have 
a great many smaller pennons, each with the same badge on 
it (we read of one famous knight who had twelve hundred 
pennons under him), and these would all be fluttering in the 
breeze. Froissart often breaks out in admiration at the 
sight of a fine army. " It was a beautiful sight to view 
these battalions, with their brilliant armor glittering with 
the sunbeams. ... It was a fine sight to see the banners 
and pennons flying, the barbed horses, the knights and 
squires richly armed." King Edward had on his banner 
three leopards " of fine gold, set in red, fierce, haughty, and 
cruel." 

Wallace had very few of the gay, glittering knights; 
almost all his army were on foot. But he made so wise an 
arrangement of these plain but resolute foot soldiers that he 
very nearly won the battle. He placed them in solid 
masses, very close together, each supporting the other ; the 
outer ones knelt down, holding their lances forward; within 
the squares were his archers. When the horsemen came 
galloping up it was like dashing against a wall of spears, as 
firm as a rock. The knights would have been quite helpless 
against these despised foot-soldiers had not Edward brought 
with him a body of Englishmen who were growing very 



250 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

famous now, the archers or bowmen. At this time there 
were no guns or cannon, so that most of the fighting was 
hand-to-hand, except what could be done with bows and 
arrows. The English were better archers than any other 
people ; they could take wonderfully good aim, and could 
handle larger and stronger bows, so they could send their 
arrows farther. Had it not been for the archers, Wallace's 
brave foot-soldiers would probably have won this battle, as 
they did that of Sterling ; but when Edward saw the situation 
and made his archers come to the front, it was all over. 
The solid ranks of men were broken up by the arrows pour- 
ing in upon them from a distance; then the horsemen could 
ride in among them and cut them down as they pleased. 
Even the lords and knights whom Wallace had on his side did 
not come forward to help their countrymen, but fled away. 
Some people said this was because the nobles were jealous 
of Wallace, because he was not a noble himself; but it may 
have been only because the}- were few in number, and had 
not such good arms and horses as the English. 

Thus the English won the battle, and the Scotch army 
was broken up. Wallace had great wifficulty in escaping 
and hiding himself. Still the Scotch as a nation did not 
give in. The nobles tried to make head against the English ; 
but none of them were so skilful as Wallace, and they had 
to yield at last. Edward was moderate and merciful. 
When they submitted he forgave them all, only putting a 
very slight punishment on them. He might very likely 
have forgiven Wallace too if he had submitted. Wallace 
was too high spirited for that ; he kept himself in hiding ; 
but he was caught at last, taken prisoner to London, tried, 
condemned, and executed. 

Edward probably thought all would go well since the hero 
Avas dead ; the Scotch had no leader, and their spirit would 
be broken. He began to make arrangements for governing 
the country and uniting it to England. He gave the Scotch 
good laws, such as the English had, and did away with some 
of those old-fashioned ones which were not quite fit for a 
civilized people. He also promoted many of the Scotch 
nobles and bishops to places of honor and trust. 

But the people had been thoroughly roused, and their 

defeats had not broken their spirit. Very soon they 

Robert got the leader they wanted — a man as brave and 

able as Wallace, and a man too whom the proudest 



SCOTLAND VICTOIUOUS. 251 

of the nobles could not object to serve under, since lie was 
one of their own royal family, with a good claim to be king 
of Scotland. When Edward had been called on to decide 
between the claimants to the crown there were two principal 
ones who seemed to have the best right, Bruce and Balliol. 
Balliol had had his turn, and Bruce was dead, but he had left 
a grandson behind him, Robert the Bruce, as he was called. 

Edward I. had brought up this young man in his court, 
and it is said that at different times he had fought against 
the Scotch, and took part with the English. But he was 
uneasy under it ; he was not very likely to forget that his 
grandfather had had the next right to be king of Scotland, 
and that he was his grandfather's heir. If Scotland should 
ever have a king of her own again, iioav that Balliol was out 
of the w r ay, why should not he be that king '? There was 
only one other man alive who had as good a claim as he 
had — a man who was called the Red Corny n, and who was 
related to both Bruce and Balliol. 

Edward watched young Bruce narrowly. But one morn- 
ing, not six months after Wallace's death, Bruce was missed 
from the English court. There had been some words 
between him and King Edward. There had been also some 
words dropped by Edward when Bruce was not by, which 
made his friends think he was in danger. No one dared to 
tell him, but Bruce received a present from a friend — of a 
sum of money and a pair of spurs. He Avas quick enough 
to take the hint, and before morning he, with only two 
followers, was far on his way to Scotland. There was snow 
lying on the ground, and he feared he might be traced and 
followed by the marks of the horses' feet, so he ordered the 
three horses to be shod with the shoes reversed, which made 
all the footprints look as if they were those of horses on their 
way into the town. He got safely away, and never stopped 
till he reached Scotland. 

Never was a man more fitted to take the lead and free his 
country. Like Wallace, he was tall, strong, and handsome ; 
like him, too, he was capable and full of ideas. His shrewd 
device of shoeing the horses showed he would be ready for 
any emergency, and was not a mere man of routine. He 
was always cheerful, hopeful, and gooddrumored; kind and 
considerate to women and to those weaker than himself; he 
had been well educated, and could both read and write, 
which was a rare thing for a gentleman in those days. He 



252 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was as good a knight as the best, for Edward had trained 
him up in all the rules of chivalry ; but when necessary he 
could leave horse and heavy armor behind, and live like a 
mountaineer, hiding himself in dens and caves, or on the 
heath-covered hills. 

Almost as soon as he arrived in Scotland he fell in with 
his cousin and possible rival, the Red Comyn. They had a 
stormy interview in a church, from which Bruce presently 
emerged pale and agitated. "I doubt I have slain the Red 
Comyn," he said to his friends who waited outside. "Dost 
thou leave such a matter in doubt?" said one of them ; "I 
will make sicker" (sure). And rushing into the church, he 
did indeed make sure that his master's rival, whom he found 
wounded and helpless, should never trouble him more. 

This terrible beginning of Brace's career in his native land 
drew upon him the vengeance of Comyn's relations, and the 
resentment of the English king; and as the murder had been 
committed in a church he likewise incurred the wrath of the 
clergy and the Pope, and was excommunicated. In a spirit 
of defiance he at once claimed the throne of Scotland and 
1306 was crowne( l king. Very few friends or attendants 
Hiscor'o- were present to do him honor; the sacred stone was 
nation. g 0ne . |j ie nobleman whose right and duty it was to 
set the crown on his head refused to come. But his sister, 
the Countess of Buchan, a brave and loyal lady, without 
either his consent or her husband's, came to take his place. 
Edward was so enraged that, forgetting all his chivalry, he 
afterwards punished this lady by shutting her up in a den or 
cage like a wild beast's, in Berwick Castle. 

For a time everything went ill with Bruce, and he was 
reduced to hide himself in the mountains of the Highlands, 
as Alfred had done in the marshes of Somersetshire. But 
he never lost heart nor courage. He had a faithful band of 
friends, who trusted and loved him with all their hearts. 
Many romantic stories are told of their adventures ; how 
they were hunted with bloodhounds ; how Bruce stood 
single-handed against whole armies, daunting them by his 
kingly bearing and terrible right arm ; how they waded 
streams and lurked in caves, and could never be caught ; 
how Bruce kept up the spirits of his comrades by reading 
aloud to them as they crossed great lakes in Avretched boats. 
These stories are delightfully told by Sir Walter Scott in 
* Tales of a Grandfather.' But none of them were written 



SCOTLAND VICTORIOUS. 253 

down till after Bruce was dead, and no one can to-day dis- 
tinguish the true from the fabulous. 

As long as Edward lived, no one could say whether he or 
Bruce would conquer. But he was old now, his end was 
drawing near. He roused himself to make one more effort 
to realize the great desire of his life, and started once again 
for Scotland. But before he could set foot in the country, 
though he was within three miles of it, worn out 1307 
by the fatigues of the journey, he died at a place Death of 
called Burgh-on-the-Sands, on one side of the Sol- EdwardI - 
way Firth. There he gave his dying commands to his son, 
that his heart should be carried to the Holy Land, where 
he had been in the Crusade in his young days with Elea- 
nor, and that his bones were to be wrapped in a bull's hide 
and carried forward at the head of his army until Scotland 
was subdued. This command, though a harsh and vindic- 
tive one, did not seem quite so strange in those days as it 
does to us. Bruce himself afterwards wished his heart to 
be carried to the Holy Land. When Richard I. died he had 
ordered his body to be divided into parts, and buried in 
different places : his heart was carried to the city of Rouen, 
which had always been faithful to him, and which he loved ; 
his body was laid at his father's feet in token of submission 
and duty ; and the " more ignoble parts " were buried among 
his rebellious subjects at Poitou. A monarch's burial was a 
symbol of his last feelings and thoughts. Edward, whose 
dying effort had been to conquer the Scotch, wished his 
bones still to lead on the work. 

But Edward's commands were not fulfilled. His body 
was carried back from the Solway Sands, and for sixteen 
weeks it lay at Waltham Abbey, by the grave of Harold, 
the last of the old English kings. Then it was conveyed to 
Westminster, and buried near the tomb of Henry III. Ed- 
ward's tomb is not beautiful, like some of the others ; it 
looks almost like « a sepulchre hewn out of a rock," and on 
it is carved in Latin, " This is the hammer of the Scotch 
people." 

As soon as Edward was dead it seemed as if all his work 
in Scotland fell to pieces. He was succeeded by his son 
Edward, the same who had been born at Carnarvon Castle, 
and was the first English Prince of Wales. Edward II. 
was a poor, weak, idle prince, not at all like his father, not 
fit to cope with Bruce. He marched a little way into Scot- 



254 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

land, but did nothing of any importance, and then turned 
back again into England. 

More and more of the Scotch nobles and people now 
gathered round Bruce, and he pressed harder upon the Eng- 
lish. His principal helpers were his brother Edward, his 
nephew Randolph, and his friend Lord James of Douglas. 
All of these vied with each other in deeds of heroism, and 
were constantly striving who could gain most glory by their 
valiant acts against the English. At last they had 
Castle 18 ' c l° ne so niuch that the English had no place of any 
importance left to them but Stirling Castle, anil 
that was closely besieged by the Scotch. 

The English now made a great effort to save that fortress, 
and win back their lost ground. Edward II. marched into 
Scotland at the head of a great army of a hundred thou- 
sand men, with splendidly-armed knights and horses, and 
countless banners and pennons. 

Bruce had not half the number; he had his brave Ran- 
dolph and Douglas at his side. It might be said of him, as 
Napoleon said when he saw the Duke of Wellington walk- 
ing up a hill, " There go twenty thousand men.'' 

The armies met near Stirling Castle, by the side of a 
brook called Bannockburn. Randolph was set to watch 
against any of the English army entering the 
Battle of castle, which they were come to relieve. By 
Bannock- gome mischance a troop of English cavalry very 
nearly made their way in before Randolph per- 
ceived them. "See, Randolph," said the king, "a rose has 
fallen from your chaplet." Randolph hastened to retrieve 
his fault; he rushed off with his men to stop the English 
before it should be too late. He had but foot-soldiers to 
oppose the English horse, and not half so many even of 
them. Douglas, his friend and rival, saw that he was hard 
pressed, and rode after with his followers to assist him. 
But long before they reached the spot, Randolph and his 
infantry had driven off the English, and when the magnani- 
mous Douglas saw the horses, many of them riderless, on 
the retreat, he called on his men to stop ; for, said he, 
" Randolph has gained the day ; since we were not soon 
enough to help him in the battle, do not let us lessen his 
glory by approaching the field." 

Everyone in Bruce's army seemed to have the heart of a 
hero, and in spite of the mighty English horsemen and the 



SCOTLAND VICTORIOUS. 255 

far-famed English archers, the Scotcli won a triumphant 
victory. Never before or since have the English been so 
utterly defeated. The king fled for his life, and escaped 
safely to England. Those of the English who would not 
flee, and there were a great many of them, were left dead 
on the field, or were taken prisoners. 

After this great victory Bruce's success was complete. 
The English could never recover from it, and were scarcely 
able to defend their own border. The Scotch made 
inroads into England, and defeated them on their p ea ce of 
own ground. At last a treaty was signed at North- North- 
ampton, fully acknowledging the independence of 
Scotland and her king. This was the very year before 
Robert Bruce died. He left a glorious name behind him, 
which is as dear to the Scotch nation as that of Alfred is to 
the English. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGN WAR. 

Edward II. His father's last commands. Piers Gaveston. The Lords Ordainers. 
The Despensers. The queen. Deposition of Edward. His murder. Edward 
III. The French wars. Froissart. The Black Prince. Battle of Crecy. 
Calais. 

Edward II., as has been seen, lost all that his father had 

gained in Scotland. The rest of his reign was quite of a 

piece with this. He need not be blamed for not obeying 

that order of his father's respecting his bones, but 

Edward'll ne disobeyed another of his dying commands which 

'he ought to have kept. This was that he should 

send away a special friend and favorite who, as the old king 

saw, would be likely to give him bad advice and to bring 

him into trouble. The favorite was a young Frenchman 

named Piers Gaveston, who had been brought up 

aves on. w j^ n nmij anc j to w ] 10m ] ie was deeply attached, 

but whom the English nobles began to hate as deeply, 
Gaveston was quick, brilliant, and frivolous. He came from 
Gascon y, a part of France which was noted for its inhabi- 
tants being vain and self-confident ; so much so, indeed, that 
the term gasconade has become an English word meaning 
boasting. 

He was very accomplished, and very skilful in arms ; he 
was also very elegant in his dress. He wore beautiful flow- 
ered shirts and embroidered girdles, and was extremely 
good-looking. In all things he seemed to outshine the 
nobles of the land. He managed to win prizes at the tour- 
naments, and unhorsed a good many of the English lords. 
It could not have been pleasant to them to be eclipsed in 
this way by a foreigner ; and if Gaveston had been modest 
or discreet he would have kept more in the background. 

But the king was foolish, and seemed willing or desirous 
to affront the English nobles. At his coronation he gave 
the precedence to Gaveston over all; he made him carry 

256 



CIVIL WAi: AND FOREIGN WAR. 257 

the crown, and walk next to himself and the queen. He 
gave him great riches, both in lands and money. He made 
him Earl of Cornwall, which before that had always been a 
title belonging to a prince of the royal family, and he mar- 
ried him to his own niece. 

As soon as the Parliament met, the first thing they did 
was to demand that Gaveston should he banished. Edward 
was obliged to yield, and indeed took most solemn oaths 
that he would never let him come back. But oaths did not 
count for much at that time ; and in little more than a year 
Gaveston was back again in high favor. Neither he nor the 
king had learned wisdom. The king made as much of him 
as ever. He, on his part, affronted the nobles even worse 
than before. He gave some of them insulting nicknames. 
The king's cousin, the Earl of Lancaster, who took part with 
the lords, he called " an old hog." The Earl of Pembroke 
he called "Joseph the Jew." The Earl of Warwick he 
called " a black dog." 

The king thought this very witty and amusing. But the 
nobles did not take that view of it. The Earl of Warwick 
vowed that some day Gaveston should " feel the black dog's 
teeth." A more important person still was affronted, the 
queen herself. Edward was married to Isabella, the daugh- 
ter of the king of France. She was very beautiful, and 
indeed was said to be the most beautiful woman in the 
world ; but there was not much love between her and her 
husband, even at the beginning. She soon became disgusted 
at Edward's devotion to his favorite, and never, to the end 
of his life, did she forgive him. 

Meanwhile Edward was constantly in want of money, 
which of course gave the lords and the country great power 
over him. It was well settled now that the king 
could get no money without the consent of Parlia- Eesistance - 
meat, and the Parliament would not grant him any money 
so long as he thwarted the solemn will of the nation. Gaves- 
ton had to go away before the barons would even come to 
Parliament. Thus we see what good came of the labors of 
Stephen Langton, and of the barons' charter ; of Simon de 
Montfort's work, and of Humphrey de Bohun's resistance, 
when he would " neither go nor hang." The weak and fool- 
ish king could not govern according to his own will, for 
there was a way of keeping him in check. We see now the 
difference between a constitutional king, who must rule 



258 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

according to the settled laws of the nation, and an absolute 

1310 king, who rules according to his own will. But 
The Lords poor foolish Edward wanted to have his own way. 
Ordainers. rpj^ i or( j s were determined to have theirs; they 
appointed a soi*t of committee to govern the country, and 
took the power for a time out of the king's hands. 

The members of this committee or council were called 
Lords Ordainers, and they made a great many regulations or 
ordinances intended to restrain the king, to make his power 
less, and the power of the Parliament greater. The king 
promised to submit to this, but he could not do without his 
favorite. There seemed but one way of getting rid of him ; 
the lords took up arms, and a civil war began. Gaveston 
was captured at last, and the great nobles whom he had 
insulted and ridiculed had their revenge. He was carried 
off to Warwick Castle ; the Earl of Warwick, the " black 
dog," had his opportunity now of showing his teeth, and 
Gaveston, without trial and without pity, was beheaded. 

It might have been thought the king had had a sufficient 
lesson, and would have tried to make the lords and the people 
content. It was just at this time that Bruce was making 
such progress, and had got back all the fortresses but one, 
and when Edward was obliged to go to Scotland to try and 
save that one. Many of the nobles, including his cousin, the 
Earl of Lancaster, would not go with him or bring their fol- 
lowers; and it was perhaps partly owing to that, that he was 
so disgracefully beaten at Bannockburn. 

Nevertheless, it was not long before he set up a new 
favorite. This time it was an Englishman and a nobleman, 
one Hugh le Despenser, " in all points just such 
favorite another" (as Gaveston), "equal to him in goodli- 
ness of personage, in favor of the king, and in 
abusing the lords. Again the king heaped riches and 
honors so lavishly on him and on his father as to offend all 
the other nobles. They were both as covetous and arrogant 
as Gaveston had been, and the same scenes were acted over 
again. The king and his party got the better at one time, 
and the chief of the nobles, Edward's cousin, the Earl of 
Lancaster, was beheaded ; so were some others, while one 
of the most important, Roger Mortimer, was imprisoned, but 
contrived to escape. 

Hugh le Despenser and his father were utterly hated and 
detested by everybody, and from hating the favorites people 



CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGK WAR. 259 

soon passed to hating the king. Queen Isabella turned 
against him. now, and took part with his enemies. The queen 
Her brother, the king of France, began to quarrel andMor- 
with Edward, and Isabella went over to France, timer - 
as was said, in order to make peace. She soon sent for her 
eldest son to join her, and then she would not come back. 
She gave out that she dared not come for fear of Hugh and 
his father, but, in reality, she had fallen in with that Roger 
Mortimer who had escaped from prison, and joined him in 
plotting against the king. The barons in England sent mes- 
sages, telling her that if she could collect about a thousand 
soldiers, and would bring her young son back to England, 
they would join her, and make him king instead of his father. 
Though her brother, the king of France, would not take her 
part, at least openly, she found a very good friend in Sir 
John de Ilainault, whose niece the young Edward after- 
wards married ; and the Princess Philippa turned out as 
good and faithful a wife as his grandfather's dear Eleanor. 
Queen Isabella then returned to England, accompanied by 
her son and Sir John de Hainault, and bringing with her an 
army of foreign soldiers. She proclaimed that she was come 
to avenge the death of the Earl of Lancaster, and as the 
enemy of the Despensers. 

The lords and bishops joined her at once; there was 
hardly any one to take the king's part. He had to flee; but 
he and the younger Le Despenser were taken prisoners in 
Glamorganshire. Hugh le Despenser, wearing a crown of 
nettles, was hung on a gibbet fifty feet high; his father was 
also captured and put to death. 

The king had no friends left. The people were told 
shameful and false stories about him : that he deserted his 
wife; that he was an idiot and a changeling; that he was a 
carter's son, changed in his infancy by his nurse. It was 
almost an unheard-of thing to dethrone a king; and perhaps 
that was the reason why this last story was set afloat; since, 
though there were other charges which could be proved 
against him, they might not have been sufficient to convince 
the common people of the lawfulness of deposing him. 

Parliament was summoned to decide upon the matter. It 
was stated, and for the most part with truth, that Edward 
was not fit to govern ; that he did not know good from evil ; 
that he followed bad counsellors, and would not follow good 
ones; that he spent his time in idle amusements, instead of 



260 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

trying to do good to his people ; that he had lost a great part 
of his dominions abroad and in Scotland; that not only had 
he done no good, but he had done great harm, by putting to 
death many of the great men of the country ; that he had 
broken his coronation oath of doing justice to all ; and, lastly, 
that he was incorrigible, and would never do any better. 

He was made to resign his kingdom, and to consent to his 
son Edward being put in his place. If no further action 

had been taken, and he had been well treated in a 
The king private position, he would have had no more than 
deposed. J ie deserved, and the country would have been jus- 
tified in getting rid of a king so unfit to be at its head. But, 
only eight months after, he Avas cruelly murdered — it was 

believed by the orders of the queen and Mortimer, 
His death. w ^ )R)W ioQ ^ ft |j ^ p 0wer j n t their own hands, 

for the new young king was but a boy of fourteen years old. 

Mortimer soon showed himself as insolent and covetous 
as either Gaveston or Hugh le Despenser. No one, of 
course, could feel any respect for the queen, who had de- 
serted her husband for his sake. They both fell into great 
disfavor with the nation ; more especially because it was by 
them that the peace with Robert Bruce was made, 

1328 - giving up all for which Edward I. had fought, and 
acknowledging the independence of Scotland, which was 
very galling to the English pride. 

Meanwhile the young Edward was growing up a brave, 
ambitious, and spirited youth. When he was eighteen he 
would no longer submit to be kept in subjection by 
Edward III. hig motnei . am | ] ier Avor thless lover, and by a bold 
and skilful surprise he seized on Mortimer in Nottingham 
Castle, and assumed the government himself. Mortimer 
was tried, condemned, and executed ; and Queen Isabella 
spent the rest of her days, in a sort of honorable imprison- 
ment, in a house of her own near London. 

"It is a common opinion in England that between two 
valiant kings there is always one weak in mind and body ; 
and most true it is that this is apparent in the example of 
the gallant King Edward, of whom I am now to speak; for 
his father, King Edward II., was weak, unwise, and cow- 
ardly; while his grandfather, called the good King Edward, 
was wise, brave, very enterprising, and fortunate in 
Froissart. war " g wr i tes Froissart, the" delightful chroni- 
cler, who tells us most about the long reign we are now 



CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGN WAR. 261 

entering' upon, and of whom mention has been already made. 
He was a foreigner, secretary to Philippa of Hainault, the 
wife of Edward III. He lived in England a considerable 
time, but travelled about also in France and other places. 
We learn more about "chivalry" from him than from any 
other writer ; for though he was a priest and a scholar 
himself, knightly deeds, glory, and fame Avere the joy of his 
soul. The intense delight he takes in telling his stories, his 
great love for noble acts, his admiration for brave and gallant 
knights, make his book very charming reading. He took 
pains to find out the truth as far as he could (though he 
sometimes made mistakes nevertheless). He evidently found 
the greatest pleasure in writing his book ; indeed, he says, 
towards the end of it, that, "through the grace of God," 
he will work upon it as long as he lives. " For the more I 
labor at it the more it delights me; just as a gallant knight 
who loves his profession, the longer he continues in it, so 
much the more delectable it appears." He was quite cer- 
tain, too, that his book would be a very interesting one; 
and a favorite, he thinks, with all good people. He says 
he well knows that when he is dead and gone " this grand 
and noble history will be in much fashion, and all noble 
and valiant persons will take pleasure in it." It is about 
five hundred years since this book was written, and it is 
still a very attractive book; and we of the nineteenth cen- 
tury can still take almost as much pleasure in it as the 
"noble and valiant persons" for whom he wrote it. 

The English people take pride and delight in reading of 
the reign of Edward III., because of the famous battles in 
which they beat the French, of which Froissart gives ani- 
mated descriptions. 

But besides the fighting and the glory and the gallantry, 
there were sore troubles too which came upon England and 
Europe in this reign. Twice over there was a dreadful 
pestilence, — more dreadful almost than any other recorded 
in history; but in the chronicles of this time, as in Froissart's 
own, we find but a few lines about this plague, though we 
find many pages devoted to wars and victories. 

In the great war with France which Edward carried on 
the tables were quite turned. Instead of French- 
men wanting to conquer England, it was the Eng- p^|„^ ith 
lish who wanted to conquer France, and Edward 
claimed to be its king. As to his claim, volumes have been 



262 guest's engltsh history. 

written on both sides. It is only another proof that in those 
days the laws by which princes succeeded to kingdoms were 
very unsettled, and when there were two or three rival claim- 
ants, each of whom seemed to have some right on his side, it 
was generally decided by force of arms. Edward's mother, 
the beautiful but wicked Isabella, was daughter of a king of 
France, and it was through her that Edward made his claim. 
This was the beginning of a war between France and 
England, which was called the Hundred Years' War; because, 
though they were not fighting all the time, there was never 
any fasting peace. England got great glory, but she did 
not get France. At the end of that long war she lost every 
part of France she had ever possessed except one town, and 
that she lost some time afterward. It has been seen that it 
is much better for both that England should be for the Eng- 
lish, and France for the French. 

The hero of this age, the very crown and flower of chiv- 
alry, was the Prince of Wales, Edward III.'s eldest son. His 

name was also Edward, though he is nearly always 
The Black ca ]i e (l the Black Prince. Froissart, however, never 

calls him so ; and no one knows how he got that 
title, whether from wearing black armor or from his terrible 
• lecils. Before his first battle his father dressed him in black 
armor, but it is probable that he was generally clothed in 
rich and beautiful colors. He never lived to be king of 
England, and was buried at Canterbury Cathedral. There 
his tomb, with his likeness on it, may be seen to this day. 
It is faded now, after these five hundred years, but when it 
was new it was glowing with colors. On the armor may 
still be seen marks of the gilding with which it was covered. 
Above it hangs his helmet, with the gilded leopard for his 
crest, his velvet coat, which was embroidered with blue and 
scarlet, and his shield, emblazoned with the arms of England 
and of France. 

He Avas very young, only sixteen years old, when he first 
fought the French. He had only been made a knight about 
a month. He had not yet " won his spurs ;" that is, he had 
1346 not yet done anything to distinguish himself, and to 
Battle of make him worthy of the gilded spurs which knights 
Crecy. wore . He first fought in the famous battle of Crecy, 
not very far from Abbeville, in France. It is sometimes 
said that Roger Bacon's gunpowder came into use, and that 
cannon were first employed, in this battle, but Froissart says 



CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGN WAR. 203 

nothing about it. There is no doubt, however, that artillery 
began to be employed about this time. 

Froissart says that in this battle the king of England had 
not more than an eighth part of the forces which the king 
of France had, but they were fine soldiers, and excellently 
disciplined. There were more than five thousand of the 
English archers. The king of France, however, had fifteen 
thousand Genoese with cross-bows, on whom he depended, 
besides immense numbers of Frenchmen, all eager for the 
right. But Froissart tells us that " no man, unless he had 
been present, can describe truly the confusion of that day, 
especially the bad management and disorder of the French, 
whose troops were out of number." 

Before the battle began Edward " rode at a foot's pace 
through all the ranks, encouraging the army, and entreat- 
ing that they would guard his honor and defend his right ; 
so sweetly and Avith such a cheerful countenance did he 
speak that all who had been before dispirited were directly 
comforted by hearing him." 

The young Prince of Wales, surrounded by many gallant 
knights, had command of the first battalion. When all were 
duly arranged the English army " seated themselves on the 
ground, with their helmets and bows before them, that they 
might be the fresher wh en their enemies should arrive. The 
king overlooked all from a little hill near. 

Before long the great and tumultuous French army ap- 
proached, longing for the battle, but obeying no commands, 
and keeping no order. "As soon as the king of France came 
in sight of the English his blood began to boil," and he 
ordered the Genoese bowmen forward. " During this time," 
says Froissart, " a heavy rain fell, accompanied by thunder, 
and a very terrible eclipse of the sun ; and before this rain a 
great flight of crows hovered in the air, over all those bat- 
talions, making a loud noise. Shortly afterwards it cleared 
up, and the sun shone very bright, but the French had it in 
their faces, and the English in their backs." 

Then came the meeting of the excitable Italians with the 
dogged, undemonstrative English. "When the Genoese 
were assembled together, and began to approach, they made 
a great leap and cry to abash the Englishmen, but they 
stood still and stirred' not for all that. Then the Genoese a 
second time made another leap and a fell cry, and stepped 
forward a little, and the Englishmen removed not one foot; 



^04 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

thirdly, again they leaped and cried, and went forth till they 
came within shot ; then they shot fiercely with their cross- 
bows. Then the English archers stepped forth one pace, 
and let their arrows fiy so hotly and so thick that it seemed 
snow. When the Genoese felt the arrows piercing through 
heads, arms, and breasts, many of them cast down their 
cross-bows, and did cut their strings, and returned discom- 
fited. ... In the English army there were some Cornish 
and Welshmen on foot, who had armed themselves with 
large knives; these, advancing through the ranks of the men- 
at-arms and archers, who made way for them, came upon the 
French when they were in this danger, and falling upon earls, 
barons, knights, and squires, slew many.'' 

One of the allies of the French, who fought very bravely 
on their side, was the blind king of Bo hemi a. When he 
heard that the order for the battle was given, he said to his 
attendants, "'Gentlemen, yon are all my people, my friends, 
and brethren at arms this day ; therefore, as I am blind, I 
request of you to lead me so far into the engagement that 
I may strike one stroke with my sword.' The knights 
replied that they would directly lead him forward; and in 
order that they might not lose him in the crowd, they 
fastened all the reins of their horses together, and put "the 
king at their head, that he might gratify his wish, and 
advanced toward the enemy. . . . The king rode in among 
the enemy and made good use of his sword, for he and his 
companions fought most gallantly. They advanced so far 
that they were all slain, and on the morrow they were found 
on the ground with their horses all tied together.'' 

In the thick of the fight the battalion of the Prince of 
Wales was hard pressed and in great danger. A knight 
rode in all haste to the king to entreat him for assistance. 
"The king replied, 'Is my son dead, unhorsed, or so badly 
wounded that he cannot support himself'?' 'Nothing of 
the sort, thank God,' rejoined the knight, 'bat he is in so 
hot an engagement that he has great need of your help.' 
The king answered, 'Now, Sir Thomas, return back to those 
that sent you, and tell them from me not to send again for 
me this day, or expect that I shall come, let what will 
happen, as long as my son has life; and say that I command 
th em to let the boy win his spurs ; for I am determined, if 
it please God, that all the glory and honor of this day shall 
be given to him, and to those into whose care I have en- 



CIVIL WAR AND FOREIGN WAR. 2G5 

trusted him.' The knight returned to his lords and related 
the king's answer, which mightily encouraged them, and 
made them repent they had ever sent such a message." 

At last the battle ended ; the French king had to flee, and 
his huge army was broken and scattered. When Edward 
saw his noble young son return to him victorious, he " em- 
braced him in his arms and kissed him, saying, ' Sweet son, 
God give you good perseverance ; you are my son, for most 
loyally have you acquitted yourself this day ; you are worthy 
to be a sovereign.' The prince bowed down very low and 
humbled himself, giving all honor to the king his father." 

Some people think that it was from the brave, blind king 
of Bohemia that the Black Prince took the famous badge of 
the three ostrich feathers, and the motto " Ich dien," which 
are still the crest and motto of the Prince of Wales. This 
is not very clear ; nor is it known how he came by them. 
The Welsh say " Ich dien " are Welsh words ; but most 
people think they are German, and that the king of Bohemia 
really used them. In German those two words mean " I 
serve." One wonders whether in the hour of triumph the 
viotorious prince had a thought of Him who came not to be 
ministered unto, but to minister ! It will be seen hereafter 
that he acted on his motto, and was " lowly and service- 
able," after his greatest triumph. 

After the victory of Crecy the king of England at once 
laid siege to Calais. It was bravely defended, but at length 
w T as forced by famine to surrender. Edward was 
indignant with the inhabitants for their obstinate c^ais° f 
resistance, and demanded that they should submit 
themselves absolutely to his will, without any terms or con- 
ditions. Even his own barons and knights entreated him to 
be less harsh than this, and he at last consented to pardon 
nil the rest if six of the principal citizens would come to 
him " with bare heads and feet, with ropes round their necks, 
and the keys of the town and castle in their hands." These 
six were to be at his absolute disposal. When the inhabit- 
ants of the town received information of the king's decision, 
it caused " the greatest lamentations and despair, so that the 
hardest heart would have had compassion on them." But 
before long " the most wealthy citizen of the town, 
by name Eustace de St. Pierre, rose up and said, j^jjjers 
' Gentlemen, both high and low, it would be a very 
great pity to suffer so many people to die through famine 



266 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

if any means could be found to prevent it; and it would be 
highly meritorious in the eyes of our Saviour if such misery 
could be averted. I have such faith and trust in finding 
grace before God, if I die to save my townsmen, that I name 
myself as first of the six.' When Eustace had done speak- 
ing they all rose up and almost worshipped him ; many cast 
themselves at his feet with tears and groans." The brave 
and devoted man soon found companions ; one after another 
stood forth to offer themselves ; and when the six were com- 
pleted they were led before Edward, who, as Froissart tells 
us, " eyed them with angry looks," and ordered their heads 
to be struck off. All his attendants, and especially one of 
his bravest knights, Sir Walter Manny, entreated him to be 
more merciful, and not t<> tarnish his noble reputation by 
such a cruel act. But it was all in vain till the Queen 
Philippa, who had come from England to visit her husband, 
fell on her knees before him, ami said, "with tears, 'Ah, 
gentle sir, since I crossed the sea with great danger to see 
you I have never asked you one favor ; now I most humbly 
ask as a gift, for the sake of the Son of the blessed Mary, 
and for your love to me, that you will be merciful to these 
six men.' The king looked at her for some time in silence, 
and then said, ' Ah, lady, I wish you had been anywhere 
else than here ; you have entreated in such a manner that I 
cannot refuse you ; I therefore give them to you to do as 
you please with them.' The queen conducted the six citi- 
zens to her apartments, and had the halters taken from their 
necks ; after which she new clothed them, and served them 
with a plentiful dinner; she then presented each with six 
nobles, and had them escorted out of the cam]) in safety." 

But though the six citizens were thus kindly treated by 
the queen, and the rest of the inhabitants escaped with their 
lives, they were not allowed to remain in the conquered city. 
All the knights and lords were put in prison, and the rest of 
the inhabitants were compelled to leave their homes and all 
they possessed, for King Edward determined to repeople 
the town with English alone. Three hundred years after 
this, when Calais had been long restored to the French, an 
English traveller relates that, passing through the city, he 
went to see " the relics of our former dominion there," and 
was shown on the front of an ancient dwelling these words 
in English, engraven on stone, God save the king. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

GLORY AND SORROW. 

The Battle of Poitiers. The Black Death. The serfs. Loss of Aquitaine. The 
Black Prince and the parliament. Death of the prince. 

The French and the Scotch had become friends and allies 
at the time when England was against them both ; so now 
while the war with France was going on, and Edward and 
his son w r ere engaged in it, the Scoteh took the opportunity 
of invading England. But they were defeated in battle 
near a place called Nevil's Cross, and their king, David, was 
made prisoner and kept in England nine years. Froissart 
says that Queen Phillippa headed the English army, but this 
is not now credited, for no old English writer says anything 
about it. 

The English began to think their armies invincible. They 
grew more and more fond of fighting, and of the rich plun- 
der they brought home: "the gold and silver plate, fair 
jewels, and trunks stuffed full of valuables." 

Ten years after the battle of Crecy there was another 
great and famous battle, fought near Poitiers, in 135g 
the more southern part of France. The Black Battle'of 
Prince, who, though still young, was a grown man Poitiers - 
now, was at the head of the English; and the French king, 
John, at the head of his own troops. The army of the 
Black Prince consisted of only eight thousand men, while 
the French king had more than sixty thousand. The prince 
encouraged his men with brave but not boastful words. 
" Now, sirs," he said, "though we be but a small company, 
in regard to the puissance of our enemies, let us not be 
abashed therefore; for the victory lieth not in the multitude 
of people, but where God will send it. If it fortune that 
the day be ours, Ave shall be the most honored people in the 
world; and if we die in our right quarrel, I have the king, 
my father, and brethren, and also ye have good friends and 

267 



268 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

kinsmen ; these shall revenge ns. Therefore, sirs, for God's 
sake, I require you to do your duties this day ; for if God be 
pleased, and St. George, this day ye shall see me a good 
knight." 

The small English force were so skilfully posted and so 
well managed that the French were utterly defeated, and 
their king, who had fought very valiantly, was made pris- 
oner. The Black Prince showed his generous spirit, his 
courtesy and modesty. " When evening was come," writes 
Froissart, "the Prince of Wales gave a supper in liis pavil- 
ion to the king of France, and to the greater part of the 
princes and barons who were prisoners. . . . The prince 
himself served the king's table, as well as the others, with. 
every mark of humility, and would not sit down at it, in 
spite of all his entreaties for him so to do, saying that 'lie 
Avas not worthy of such an honor, nor did it appertain to 
him to seat himself at the table of so great a king, or of so 
valiant a man as he had shown himself by his actions that 
day.' He added, also, with a noble air, 'Dear sir, do not 
make a poor meal because the Almighty God has not grati- 
fied your wishes in the event of this day; for be assured 
that my lord and father will show you every honor and 
friendship in his power, and will arrange your ransom so 
reasonably that you will henceforward always remain 
friends. In my opinion you have cause to be glad that the 
success of this battle did not turn out as you desired, for 
you have this day acquired such high renown for prowess 
that you have surpassed all the best knights on your side. 
I do not, dear sir, say this to flatter you, for all those of our 
side who have seen and observed the actions of each party 
have unanimously allowed this to be your due, and decree 
you the prize and garland for it.' At the end of this speech 
there were murmurs of praise heard from every one, and the 
French said the prince had spoken nobly and truly, and that 
he would be one of the most gallant princes in Christendom 
if God should grant him life to pursue his career of glory." 

Three or four years after this, when both countries were 
worn out with fighting, and France was almost ruined by 
her own armies and the English armies forever ravaging and 
devouring everything, a peace was made. The French 
promised three million of gold crowns as a ransom for their 
king, who was then allowed to go back to his country; but 
as he could not collect the promised sum, he afterwards 



GLORY AND SORROW. 269 

honestly returned to England. He died in the Savoy Pal- 
ace in London, which had been fixed upon as his residence 
while in captivity. Edward gave up his claim to be king of 
France; but he kept the duchy of Aquitaine and the town 
of Calais ; and it was agreed that he was no longer to be a 
vassal under the king of France for these French possessions, 
as he and his fathers had always been before, but to be an in- 
dependent sovereign over them. The Black Prince took up 
his abode in Bordeaux, to rule over these French provinces. 

The battles of Crecy and Poitiers fill a large space in the 
history of their time, but very little is said about what hap- 
pened in the ten years intervening, as if history was con- 
cerned only with kings, princes, and soldiers. But it Avas 
during that time that the first of those terrible pes- 
tilences came, which were in reality far more im- T he t u lack 
portant than either of those famous fights. A few 
thousand men were killed in the battles ; but by means of 
this awful disease more than two million people perished in 
England alone. 

The disease was so virulent that few who were attacked 
lived more than three days ; it was called by the dreadful 
name of the Black Death. It is difficult to realize it. Of 
course it was not literally true that half the people in every 
house died; but, taking all together, there seems hardly any 
doubt that half the people of England died of this frightful 
plague; in some places more, and in some less. 

More than two thirds of the clergymen in Norfolk and in 
Yorkshire died, so that it was almost impossible to get any 
one to read the service ; and the bishops were obliged to 
make quite young boys rectors of parishes, or the churches 
must have been shut up. In the town of Yarmouth, which 
was a flourishing fishing town then, as it is now, more than 
seven thousand people were buried in one year, so that 
most of the houses Mere left empty and desolate, and gradu- 
ally fell into decay. Nearly two hundred years afterwards 
there were still gardens and bare spaces where there had 
formerly been houses full of happy people. 

In the west of England it was equally fatal. In Bristol so 
many peoj^le died that there were hardly enough left alive 
to bury them. The principal streets were so "forlorn and 
deserted that the grass grew several inches high in them. 
In smaller villages and hamlets, sometimes every house was 
left empty, all those who dwelt in them being dead. 



270 guest's English history. 

It was most terrible of all in London. One of the knights 
whom Froissart mentions, Sir Walter Manny, gave a large 
piece of land near Smithfield in which to bury those who died, 
and in one year fifty thousand people were buried there. But 
this new cemetery was not used till all the other church- 
yards were overflowing, and it is probable that more than 
one hundred thousand people died of this plague in London, 
small as it was then compared with what it is now. This 
cemetery, with the chapel that stood in it, was afterwards 
given by Sir Walter Manny to the monks of the Charter- 
house, and it is there that the school and college (or alms- 
house) of the Charterhouse now stand. 

The Black Death was perhaps the most fearful plague that 
ever came to Europe ; for it raged in Italy, Germany, and 
France quite as fiercely as it did in England. We never 
hear of such plagues in modern times, for even the worst 
visitations of cholera have been nothing like this. A plague 
which should carry off half the people of a country would 
spread consternation through the world. 

In those days people knew nothing about the laws of 
health. Their' towns were dirty, crowded, and undrained. 
They did not know how to guard against infection. They 
did not know the importance of pure air and pure water. 
The windows were small, the houses dark, and the streets nar- 
row. The doctors would often try to cure their patients by 
consulting the stars, or by magical ceremonies. The clergy 
thought that the pestilence was sent as a judgment for sins, 
and led the miserable people about, singing woeful litanies, 
and barefooted, — 

"Pressing the stones with feet unused and soft, 
And bearing images of saints aloft," — 

in hope of winning pardon from an angry God. 

It was not until quite lately that people began to find out 
that care and cleanliness — clean houses, clean water, clean 
streets, clean air, and clean bodies — are the means for keep- 
ing off these awful scourges. 

A change had been going on for some time in the condi- 
tion of the laboring classes." Many of the villeins and serfs 

had been gradually rising into freemen, Though it 
The la- } ia ,| long "ceased to be a common practice for a rich 

man to sell his serfs, still most of the poor until 
about this time were looked on as part of the estate, and 



GLOEY AND SORROW. 271 

were obliged to live and work on the land where they were 
born. Magna Chart a, which had done so much for other 
people of the land, had been of very little help to laborers. 
The landlords even strongly objected to their serfs jiutting 
their children to school ; for if a serf boy proved to be 
clever, and got on with his learning, he might in time 
become a clergyman, and then he would be free. 

This was changing now. More and more of the serfs 
were buying their liberty and becoming free. Edward III. 
and his lords and knights wanted a good deal of money for 
their wars, and some of it they got in this way. It was 
also becoming customary, instead of a landlord giving a poor 
man a piece of land and a cottage, on condition of his doing- 
work for him, for the peasant to pay rent in money for his 
house and land, and for the master to hire laborers to work 
on his own home-farm. This is the custom among owners 
of land now, and it gives more liberty and is pleasanter for 
both parties. m 

Moreover there was a new kind of work now to be done, 
in which workmen could be useful, and which was a great 
help to them in gaining their liberty. This was 

the manufacture of cloth. England had long been cloth . 

1 c ■ c 11 ■ i i ii weaving, 

noted tor its fine wool, but it used to be all ex- 
ported, principally to the Netherlands, because the English, 
as Fuller tells us, "knew no more what to do with their 
wool than the sheep that wear it, as to any artificial and 
curious drapery." Edward III. invited a, great many of 
the skilful Flemish weavers to immigrate, and teach the Eng- 
lish to make fine cloth. This trade was of great benefit to 
the English. 

"Happy the yeoman's house into which one of these Dutch- 
men did enter, bringing industry and wealth along with them. 
Such who came in strangers among them soon after went out 
bridegrooms, and returned son-in-laws, having married the 
daughters of their landlords. Yea, those yeomen, in whose 
houses they dwelt, soon preceded gentlemen, gaining great 
estates." 

When the Flemish weavers set up their looms and taught 
the English to weave cloth, of course they wanted work- 
men. Many serfs escaped from their masters and came to 
Norwich and other towns and learned to weave; and if they 
could manage to stay there a year and a day without being 
caught they were free, and the masters could never make 



272 GUEST** ENGLISH HISTORY. 

them go back again. Thus there were not nearly as many 
serfs as there used to be, and the masters had often to hire 
free laborers for money to plough and sow for them. 

But after the Black Death there were very few laborers 
left ; they asked for higher wages, but the masters did not 
want to pay them. The king's council interfered, 
Statutes of an( | made a law that all the laborers were to work 
for their masters for the same wages that they used 
to have before the Plague. Masters were also forbidden to 
pay any higher wages than before. If the men disobeyed 
they were to be put in prison. Not long afterwards a still 
more cruel punishment was ordered. If any of the laborers 
went away, and the master could catch them, he was to 
burn the letter F, for fugitive, into their foreheads with a 
hot iron. 

But the people had begun to learn their value and their 
power; they joined together, and stood by each other, 
refusing to take -the low wages ; and those who had the 
means helping those who had not. Legislators know now 
that it is useless to make laws fixing the rate of wages; that 
must be settled between the parties themselves; and all the 
law can do is to hinder either party from violence. States- 
men in Edward's time had not discovered this ; they had to 
learn it by experience. Fresh laws were made to bind the 
laborers ; but they were determined to be free. The result 
of this great dispute will be seen later. 

After the battle of Poitiers, and when the Prince of 
Wales was established at Bordeaux, things went on very ill. 
The Black P erna F s h* s great success had turned his head. 
Prince in Instead of being modest and courteous, as he was 
the south. before, } ie became proud and arrogant, as did the 
English who were with him. He ruled Aquitaine very 
badly. Froissart says that he himself "witnessed the great 
haughtiness of the English, who are affable to no other 
nation than their own;" they said of the gentlemen of (bis- 
cony and Aquitaine "that they were neither on a level with 
them nor worthy of their society, which made the Gascons 
very indignant." 

The Black Prince also went to Spain, and fought for a 

cruel king there. He lost his health ; he lost his popularity* 

He even became, for a time, very cruel himself. 

' He besieged and took the town of Limoges m 

France, and treated it even more harshly than his father 



GLORY AND SORROW. 273 

would have liked to treat Calais. lie permitted, and even 
encouraged, a most barbarous massacre of the inhabitants; 
so barbarous that Froissart says "there was not that day 
in the city of Limoges any heart so hardened, or that had 
any sense of religion, who did not deeply bewail the unfor- 
tunate events passing before their eyes; for upwards of 
three thousand men, women, and children were put to death 
that day." 

Almost all the people of Aquitaine and Gascony rebelled 
against him, and gave their allegiance to the king of France. 
He returned to England very ill indeed, and for four years 
hardly anything was heard of him. This was a sad ending 
to a life that began so brilliantly ; but just before he died 
he came forth once more to help his countrymen, and to win 
back their love and admiration. 

The government of England had been badly managed. 
Edward III. was growing old, and the good Queen Philippa 
was dead. Edward took up with another lady, Dj scontent 
named Alice Ferrers, who became his favorite, andinEng- 
did many things which offended and disgusted the 
nation. Edward III., unfortunately for England, had many 
children, some of whose figures stand round his tomb in 
Westminster Abbey, on which his own beautiful image, with 
the flowing hair and noble face, reposes. The descendants 
of these children quarrelled and fought for the kingdom of 
England through more than a hundred years. The third 
son, John, was born at Ghent, in Flanders, and so was called 
John of Ghent, or Gaunt, as it used to be written then * He 
married the daughter and heiress of the Duke of Lancaster, 
great-niece of that Earl of Lancaster whom Gaveston had 
called "an old hog;" so he gained her titles and estates, 
and became Duke of Lancaster. He had most of the royal 
power in his hands. Though he was an able and well-edu- 
cated man he took no pains to please either the clergy or 
the people; the government was very wasteful, and only the 
courtiers were pleased. The wars he undertook were expen- 
sive and inglorious; he took a large army to France, which 
won no victories, but was nearly starved and ruined. The 
ministers whom he appointed to manage matters in England 
were altogether unworthy of trust; everyone was discon- 
tented and uneasy. 

* This is Shakespeare's "John o' Gaunt, time-honored Lancaster," 



274 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

It was not the barons now who stood forth against the 
tyranny, but the House of Commons, assembled in what was 

1376. afterwards ealled the "Good Parliament." Ilitli- 
Parlia- erto the Commons had never done much but vote 
t^eBlack for the taxes if they approved them, and present 
Prince. petitions against grievances ; they had not at- 
tempted to meddle with the government. Once, indeed, 
when Edward III. had attempted to consult them, they 
would not give any advice, very modestly saying that they 
were "too ignorant and simple" to form any opinion on 
such great matters. Now, however, it was felt that some- 
thing must be done for good government and against 
John of Gaunt and his ministers, and the king's favorite 
Alice. 

The difficulty was to find a leader brave and great enough 
to stand against the king, and the Duke of Lancaster, and 
the government. But the Black Prince came out from his 
retirement, like the evening sun from behind the storm- 
clouds at Crecy. He had been living in the country, at 
Berkhampstead, very ill ; often falling into fainting-fits, which 
looked like death; but now that he saw his country's need 
he came from his retreat and was carried to London. He 
had a palace of his own in the city, near where the Monu- 
ment now stands, but that was too far from the Parliament, 
which met in the chapter-house of Westminster Abbey. He 
was taken to the royal palace at Westminster, so that he 
might be carried from his sick bed to the Parliament. 

When the Commons saw him, and knew that he was 
come to stand up for freedom and justice, their spirit and 
the spirit of the whole nation rose. The Commons threw 
away their humility and stood out boldly; they made their 
complaints, and for that time won the victory. John of 
Gaunt had to give way, and even to resign his place in the 
council. Alice Perrers also was banished, and the worst of 
the king's ministers were deposed. 

This great and patriotic effort exhausted the strength of 
the Black Prince, and he died in the palace at 

Deathof Westminster. When it was known that he was 
the prince. , , , . _, . 

dead the sorrow was inexpressible. Lven his ene- 
mies grieved for him. The king of France, the son of that 
King John whom he had made prisoner at Poitiers, had 
special prayers and services said for him in the Sainte Cha- 
pelle at Paris. But his friends and relations, and his coun- 



GLORY AND SORROW. 275 

try could not be comforted at all. His father never recov- 
ered from it, and died the next year. One of his old fellow- 
soldiers was so heart-broken that he refused to take any 
food, and died in a few days of grief and starvation. The 
whole English nation mourned for him as it has never 
mourned since. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 

The English people five hundred yeavs ago. The language. The writers. The 
friars. The clergy. 

In this chapter and the one following, an attempt will he 
made to describe the various classes in England five hundred 
years ago, — the knights and esquires, country gentlemen, 
clergymen, ladies, servants, and laborers, — as well as the 
monks, nuns, and friars ; also to give an idea of their man- 
ners and mode of life, opinions and ideas. 

Hitherto almost all the books cited as authorities for the 
history of the country were written in Latin ; but the books 
hereafter to be consulted were written in English. 
The lan- j^ [ s verv old-fashioned English : the spelling is 
antiquated, and there are a good many words 
which have gone out of use. But still it is English, and 
with little trouble it is soon read quite easily. If we com- 
pare it with the old English before the Norman Conquest, 
we see the change which was mentioned some time ago ; 
we see many beautiful words which are not in the old lan- 
guage, and which are a great improvement to it ; but the 
whole substance of the language is still that of the German 
forefathers. 

After the Norman Conquest the king and the upper classes 
spoke French, and the school-children even were taught in 
French, which must have given to learning an additional 
burden. As it was fashionable to talk French rather than 
English, those who wanted to appear " genteel " always tried 
to do so. 

But one John Cornewaile, a schoolmaster, believed that 
children would get on with their lessons better if they 
learned them in their own language ; and other school- 
masters catching the thought from him, in about thirty 
years all was changed, and in every grammar school they 

270 



MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 277 

weve taught in English, as they are now, and learned French 
as a foreign language. About the same time the lawyers 
began to talk English in the law-courts. And then the 
lords and ladies at court, the princes and princesses, kings 
and queens, began to read English books. An English 
knight, Sir John Mandeville, a great traveller, wrote an 
amusing book in French of his adventures and the wonder- 
ful things he had seen, and afterwards translated it into 
English, that "lords and knights, and other noble and wor- 
thy men," might understand it. In time the last distinction 
between the conquerors and the conquered disappeared, and 
in this sense at least we may say that the vanquished Eng- 
lish overcame the victorious French. 

The writers from whom we learn most about the manners 
and thoughts of the people at that time were not historians, 
but poets, writing to instruct or to amuse the jieople 
amongst whom they lived. One of them was a poor ?j! ie . au " 
man, though a scholar, and he wrote for poor people. 
Two others were gentlemen living near the court, and writ- 
ing sometimes for the king or princes. Naturally, there- 
fore, the books are very different ; but they all agree in 
many points. The writers all saw the same things, and 
described them truthfully in their different ways. 

The first of them was called William, and though his sur- 
name is thought to have been Langland, no one is quite sure 
Avhat it was. Perhaps he had none at all ; for in 
those clays it was rather looked on as a mark of a fy im f m d 
gentleman to have a surname.* He belonged in 
some way to the Church, for he had a shaven crown ; but he 
had a wife whom he mentions as Kit, and a daughter called Ca- 
lote. He seems to have earned his living — and a very poor 
one — by singing hymns at rich men's funerals. This was not 
a cheerful occupation, and he had a very melancholy spirit. 
His long poem, which is called the 'Vision of Piers the 
Plowman,' is mostly very sad, and tells us a great deal 
about the evils of the times, and the sins of all classes of 
people. This book has hardly any of the new foreign words 
in it;f the lower people did not use or understand them 

* That his name was William Langland is not at all doubtful; and 
he was probably a clergyman. — Ed. 

t This is incorrect. The vocabulary of Piers the Plowman has 
about the same mixture of French and Latin as is to be found in the 
•' Canterbury tales," but it has more archaic words from the Saxon. 
— Ed. 



278 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

yet ; it was written in what we may call a rougher language, 
powerful but not elegant. 

The other principal writer was named Geoffrey Chaucer, 
and is called the father of English poetry. He was born in 
London, and his father was a vintner. Geoffrey 
Geoffrey } iac [ a busy, stirring life. He soon got offices in 
the court, and was thought a great deal of by some 
of the princes, especially by John of Gaunt. He was sent 
abroad several times on business of State. In his early youth 
he was a soldier, and was taken prisoner in France, but was 
ransomed by the king. At other times he went to Italy, 
and visited the beautiful cities of Florence, and Padua, and 
Genoa, where he saw noble buildings and pictures, and, 
what he perhaps enjoyed still more, some of the great and 
learned men of Italy and their books. He afterwards 
translated some of the charming tales he learned there into 
English. 

There was a great contrast between the two poets : one 
grave, poor, and sorrowful ; the other gay, prosperous, and 
genial. But in many points, when they happen to write on 
the same subjects, they agree wonderfully. They were both 
f/ood men, true at heart, hating sin and loving righteousness. 
Each confirms the other, though telling the tale in a different 
way. 

Langland, in his poem, says he had a dream in which he 
saw a "field full of folk." There were gentlemen and ladies 
gayly dressed, poor laborers, townspeople, bakers, cooks, 
singers and jugglers, beggars, priests, bishops, friars, etc. It 
was a vision of human life, of which no description can give 
the least idea. 

Chaucer was a more skilful painter of contemporary man- 
ners, because he was not so terribly in earnest. Langland 
bore the burden of the poor so heavily in his heart that 
his wrath breaks out and his descriptions lose all the fine 
touches. Chaucer was humane, too, and was with Langland 
and Wyclif against the friars, but he was first of all an artist. 
By the' device of assembling a variety of persons on a pil- 
grimage to the shrine of Thomas a Becket, he grouped 
together the most-striking and characteristic figures of the 
time. He shows us a knight, a squire, a lady, a monk, an 
innkeeper, a parish clergyman, a cook, a plowman, a scholar, 
a sailor, and many others, and gives us wonderful descrip- 
tions of them all. Chaucer says, when the sweet spring 



MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 279 

weather came people began to think of going on pilgrimages, 
and the favorite place in England was Canterbury. 

•• The holy blissful martyr for to seke 
That them hath holpen, when that they were seke " (or sick). 

It was rather a long journey in those days from London to 
Canterbury, and the roads in many parts of England were 
not safe, on account of robbers. Partly perhaps for that 
reason, and partly for company's sake, pilgrims would travel 
together. In Chaucer's poem a number of pilgrims happened 
to have met at the Tabard inn at Southwark, intending to 
start the next morning for Canterbury. The jovial host 
proposed that they should amuse themselves on the journey 
by telling stories, and whoever told the best story should be 
rewarded by a supper on their return. 

The pilgrimage in those days was like a pleasure-party. 
The pilgrims rode very comfortably on horseback ; some- 
times they would have singers and players to accompany 
them; this time the amusement was to be telling stories. 
Some of Chaucer's tales are beautiful, some are droll ; some 
of them are quite too gross to read, and show how coarse the 
lower classes, at least, must have been then. The tales that 
the better-bred people tell — the knight, the scholar, the 
lady, and others — are most delicately thought and expressed. 

The other court poet was named Gower. He wrote three 
principal books, the first in French, the second in Latin ; and 
by the time he had written both of these, people 
had begun to read English books, so he wrote the Gower - 
last in English. He was a fine scholar, though not a genius 
like Chaucer, — in fact he was extremely dull, — but we can 
help out our picture of the times by some of his lines. 

Another man who wrote a great many books, who was 
unquestionably the father of English prose, and, above all, 
who gave England a gift, better even than the best 
of Chaucer's poetry, who gave her the Bible in wy cll f. 
English, was John Wyclif, an Oxford man and a clergyman, 
who fills some space in the history of the time. 

We are now on the threshold of the Reformation. We 
remember how the English were disgusted by the extor- 
tions and tyranny of the poj>es. The Parliament declared 
that the Pope got five times as much out of the country as 
the government did. Italian cardinals and priests Avere 
made archdeacons, deans, and prebends of English benefices, 



280 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and the English clergy were kept poor and obscure. Gower 
wrote, " Rome bites the hand that does not bring a gift. 
From the court of Rome, Matthew, Mark, Lnke, and John 
would get no answer to any of their asking if they took no 
gift with them." 

It will be remembered that the Gray and Black Friars — 
the Franciscans and Dominicans — had come to England 

about a hundred and fifty years before. They had 
The mars. p ro t e sted against the love of money and worldliness; 
they had preached to the poor and comforted the sick. 
But by this time these friars had become worse than the 
worst of the clergy. They still professed to be humble and 
saint-like, but it was all hypocrisy, and the people had found 
them out. Every one of the authors just mentioned had 
something to say against the friars. They pretended to be 
so poor that they had to beg their bread, and they also went 
about asking for money. 

There was a friar among the pilgrims going to Canterbury, 
of whom Chaucer says, "he was the best beggar of all his 
house." If a poor widow had but one shoe he would get a 
farthing out of her before he went away. The friars did not 
ask for money only. They would beg rings and brooches, 
even flour and cheese, beet' and blankets; nothing of value 
came amiss. He asks for a very pretty little dinner at a 
farm-house where he goes begging : the best part of a fowl, 
Avhite bread, and a roast pig's head ; and then boasts that he 
wants but little food, he is so fond of reading the Bible. 

Langland, in his dream, tells how a friar comes to one full 
of sorrow for sin, whom he calls Contrition. The friar gives 

Contrition a plaster, called " privy-payment." He 
Selling says, "I shall pray for you all my lifetime — for a 

little silver." Then Contrition (after paying the 
silver) " clean forgot to cry and weep and watch for his 
wicked works as he did before." He tells us in another 
place that when workmen were badly off, such as weavers 
and tailors and carters' boys, they " at last espied that 
friars had fat cheeks." So then they left their labor, put 
on friars' clothes, and lolled about and lived at their ease. 

We must not think that, because the friars had become so 
degenerate, all the preaching and the beautiful lives of the 
first and truly holy ones went for nothing. They were bear- 
ing fruit now, not in the new friars, but in the hearts of 
pious men, like Wyclif and Langland, and thousands of others, 



MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 281 

doubtless, who felt as they did, though they could not put 
their thoughts into words. 

The "pardons" were papers or parchments, which were 
bought of the friars or other " pardoners." One of the 
Canterbury pilgrims was a pardoner, who had a sack full of 
them " hot from Rome." A priest asks Piers the Plowman, 
who is come to teach better things, to show him his pardon. 
Piers unfolds the pardon ; it has only two lines written in it, 
— the words of Christ : — 

"They that have done good shall go into life eternal, 
But they that have done ill into everlasting fire." 

Langland puts the meaning into a still shorter phrase. "Do 
well and have well ; do ill and have ill." But the priest says 
this is no pardon at all. 

Many of the other clergy of those days gave great disgust 
to the serious-minded by their luxury, worldliness, 
pomp, and show. There was a monk among Chan- X° r r iy ly 
cer's pilgrims, who was beautifully dressed ; his 
sleeves were trimmed with fine fur. He had a curious gold 
pin, with a love-knot in it, to fasten his hood under his chin. 
He was fat, and he liked good eating. 

" He was not pale, as is a starved gost. 
A fat swan loved he best of any roast." 

He kept plenty of good horses and hounds. " Why was he 
to study, and make himself mad poring over books? or to 
work with his hands, as Augustine bade?" He had bells 
on his horse's bridle that would jingle in the wind " as loud 
and clere as doth a chapell bell." Gower tells of rectors of 
parishes that did the same. "They feed dogs, not men; 
and when they speak of God, think of a hare." 

There was a Bishop of Lincoln about this time, of whom 
Fuller relates a story that shows how far he was from being 
a true shepherd of Christ's flock. " By mere might, against 
all right and reason, he took in the land of many poor people 
(without making the least reparation) to complete his park 
at Tinghurst," — land where the poor people used to grow 
corn, and feed sheep and cows, — in order that he might 
keep the more deer. This was William the Conqueror in 
miniature. Fuller goes on : "These wronged persons, though 
seeing their own bread, beef, and mutton turned into the 
bishop's venison, durst not contest with him, . . . only they 
loaded him with curses and execrations." 



282 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY, 

But all the clergy were not like this. There was a parish 
clergyman who went on the pilgrimage to Canterbury; a 

very different man from the wealthy monk, the 
parson° r De gg m g friar, or the pardoner fresh from Rome. 

Chaucer, who writes in a gay, mocking way about 
all those, becomes gentle and serious when he paints this 
good parson with his loving touches. Here is part of the 
description, well worth reading, notwithstanding its old- 
fashioned look : — 

"A good man ther was of religioun 
That was a pome Fersone of a tonn : 
But riche he was of holy thought and werk. 
He was also a lcrned man. a clerk, 
That Christes gospel trewely wolde preche. 
His parishens devoutly wolde he teche. 
Benigne he was, and wonder diligent, 
And in adversitie ful patient; 
And swiche he was ypreved often sithes. 
Full lothe were him to cursen for his tithes, 
But rather would he yeven (give) out of doute 
Unto his poure parishens aboute, 
Of his offring and eke of his substance. 
He coulde in litel thing have suffisance. 
Wide was his parish, and houses fer asonder, 
But he ne left nought, for no rain ne thornier, 
In sickness and in mischief (misfortune) to visite 
The ferrest in his parish, moche and lite (great and small), 
Upon his fete, and in his hand a staf. 
This noble ensample to his shepe he yaf (gave), 
That first he wrought, and afterward he taught." 

He would not go away to seek after preferment, " but dwelt 
at home, and kepte wel his fold." 

" And though he holy were and vertuous 
He was to sinful men not despitous (pitiless), 
Ne of his speche dangerous ne digne (disdainful), 
But in his teching discrete and benigne. 
To drawen folk to heaven, with faireness 
By good ensample, was his besiness; 
But if were any person obstinat, 
"What so he were highe or low estate, 
Him wolde he snibben (reprove or snub) sharply for the nones. 

But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve, 
He taught, but first he fohved it himselve." 

Xo one of the poets since Chaucer could better that simple 
picture. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND {continued). 

The knights. The state of education. The households, dress, and luxury of the 
rich. The condition of the poor. 

Chaucer gives a charming account of the knight who 
went on the famous pilgrimage, accompanied by his son and 
one servant. We cannot conceive a more perfect gentle- 
man. Though he had fought many battles, and 
seen a great deal of the world, there is no boasting lva ry ' 
or bluster about him. His manners are as gentle as a 
maid's. He rides pleasantly with the rest, agrees to the 
host's proposal, draws lots with the others, and tells his 
story courteously. 

This brave warrior, who had been in fifteen battles, besides 
sieges, had a very tender heart. One of the other pilgrims 
tells, for his tale, of a great many people, who from happi- 
ness and prosperit}', had fallen into misery ; at last he tells a 
most piteous story of one who was starved to death with his 
three children. The knight cannot bear this ; he breaks in 
and prays there may be no more of it. He says it is great 
sorrow to him to hear of the unhappiness of those who have 
been happy. 

"And the contrar is joye, and gret solas! 
As when a man hath been in poor estate 
And climbeth up, and waxeth fortunate 
And there abideth in prosperitee — 
Such thing is gladsome, as it thinketh me." 

We see in him the best and beautiful side of chivalry. 
Chaucer teaches us, in another place, what it is to The gen- 
he a gentleman. He says we are not to think it is tleman, 
to be rich and nobly born, but we should look who is most 
virtuous, and tries always 

" to do the gentil dedes that he can — 
And take him for the greatest gentleman." 
283 



284 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Froissart bad something of the same conception, for he 
tells ns of a squire who did a very base and cowardly deed, 
and adds that " he was scarcely a gentleman, for no gentle- 
man would ever have practised such base wickedness." 
This is a more noble idea of a " gentleman " than many 
people hold now-a-davs, for it is to be feared a great many 
think " gentillesse " lies in gold and silver more than in 
" gentil deeds." 

The only lady* who went on the pilgrimage was a prior- 
ess, that is, the head of a nunnery. In both monasteries and 
convents they seem to have paid much attention to 

e a y ' manners. All the little things which are taught to 
children in the nursery now, were serious matters of regula- 
tion then. The monks of Westminster had special rules for 
their behavior at dinner, forbidding them to stare, or to put 
their elbows on the table, or to crack nuts with their teeth. 
This lady was very refined, indeed, she took great pains to 
be elegant and stately in her demeanor, as if she had been 
at court. She talked French too, to seem more fashionable; 
but Chaucer slyly says that her French was 

" after the school of Stratford atte Bow. 
For French of Paris was to her unknowe." 

Fine ladies were fond of lap-dogs; in the pictures painted 
at this time we frequently see ladies sitting idly in gardens, 
or even riding on horseback, nursing little dogs. So this 
lady had "small hounds" that she fed with roast meat, and 
milk, and the finest bread. And if one of them died she 
wept sore. She was so tender-hearted, indeed, that she 
Would weep if a mouse were killed or hurt in a trap. 

. The knights and ladies had some refined tastes. They 
loved gardens and flowers ; above all, roses, though Chaucer 
loved best the English daisy. They loved the songs of 
birds; walking ill a grove with the soft grass under their 
feet, and the thrushes and nightingales singing above their 
heads, was as sweet to them as to us. By this time, also, 
education had become more general. We may be sure all 
Education tnese English books would not have been written 
of a gen- if there had been no one to read them. And it was 

eman. evidently the pleasant custom for those who knew 
how, to read aloud to those who did not. One man (a little 

* Excepting the coarse Wife of Bath. 



MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 285 

before this time), who wrote a history of England in rhyme, 
says expressly that he wrote it in English, not for learned 
people, but for unlearned, who knew neither Latin nor 
French, that they might have solace and pleasure when they 
were sitting together in fellowship. 

Chaucer's knight had a son with him, about twenty years 
old. He was an esquire as yet, but of course would be a 
knight like his father in due time. Chaucer fortunately tells 
us what he had been taught, so we see the best education 
which a gentleman's son would get in those days. He had 
learned to sit well on his horse, and all things belonging to 
the soldier's art, for he had already seen real righting, and 
" borne him well," besides jousting, or the fighting in play, 
which was then so fashionable. Moreover, he could sing 
and play on the flute ; he could write, and of course he 
could read ; he could draw ; he could even make songs him- 
self ; and he could dance. 

Reading, writing,. poetry, music, drawing, dancing, riding, 
and fighting — a Aery fair education for a young officer. But 
he had learned with all this, besides, to be modest and po- 
lite. 

" Curteis he was, lowly and servisable, 
And carf before his fader at the table." 

To carve the meat for their elders and betters was considered 
part of the duty of the young squires and pages. " He was 
at fresh as is the month of May," and had curly hair. He 
wore a sort of short tunic, with long and wide sleeves, em- 
broidered like a meadow, with "fresh flowers, white and 
red." His father was very soberly dressed. " His horse 
was good, but he ne was not gay." 

The country gentlemen lagged far behind in the matter of 
education. There was one of them in this company, a rich 
man who had often been knight of the shire, or member of 
Parliament for his part of the country. The principal thing 
he cared about was eating and drinking. When his turn 
came to tell his tale, he begged all his hearers to excuse him 
for his plain way of speaking, because he has never learned 
much. But he certainly wished for something better. He 
took a great liking for the curly-headed young squire, and 
appreciated the pleasing way in which he told his tale. He 
wished his own son were like him ; instead of which, he 
thought of nothing but playing at dice and wasting his 



28(3 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

money, and he did not care about talking with gentlemen, 
that he might "learn gentillesse aright." 
Learning There was one of the company who was a scholar 
and phi- — an Oxforclman. He was a hard student, very 
losophy. p 001 , anc j vei .y [ eaKie( J i 

" As lene was his horse as is a rake, 
And he was not right fat, I undertake." 

He did not care for fine clothes, nor for music and dancing. 
All he wanted was books. Though he had "but little gold 
in coffer," he did not care for that. He liked to have 
learned books at his bed's head ; they were his delight and 

j°y- 

"And gladly wolde he lerne and gladly teche."* 

In the universities there was a great deal of hard study ; 
they went deeply into logic and metaphysics and other pro- 
found matters, and sometimes seem to have wasted a great 
deal of labor and cleverness on what led to very little result. 
Besides pondering upon abstruse questions very difficult to 
solve, and perhaps not worth solving after all, learned ])eo- 
ple who gave their attention to visible and material objects, 
believed a great many things which we know now to be un- 
true. 

Besides their belief about comets and eclipses, which were 
still considered as supernatural, and having much to do with 
the affairs of men, they had many other strange 
stro ogy. jj cas a h ut t ] ie heavenly bodies. They thought 
that a man's life and fortunes in the world depended on 
what stars could be seen in the sky, and in what part of the 
sky, at the moment he was born. We still have the saying 
of a person having been born under a lucky or an unlucky 
star, or being of a jovial, mercurial, or saturnine temper, 
though we do not now think a man will be of a joyous, 
friendly spirit if the planet Jupiter shone upon his birth, or 
gloomy and morose if he was born under Saturn. 

It was also thought that the stars continued to have an 
influence over the actions of men. Before beginning any 
business, or doing anything important, people would consult 
some astrologer or learned man, that he might tell by the 

* It is to be hoped that students of English history will not be con- 
tent with this meagre and imperfect summary of the immortal poem, 
but will study it for themselves. 



MEDLEVAL ENGLAND. 287 

stars whether it would prosper or not. A l:tdv would per- 
haps take his opinion about her marriage, -whether her suitor 
loved her or not, etc. Others would consult astrologers as 
to whether they would prosper if they took to dealing in 
sheep or pigs. Doctors also attempted to cure their patients 
by studying the stars, and making images of them when par- 
ticular stars were in the ascendant. 

The astrologers had considerable knowledge, and no doubt 
by observing the sky they found out many things which 
helped on the real science of astronomy; but as yet the 
wisest of them still believed that our earth was the centre of 
the universe, and that it alone was fixed and immovable, 
while the sun, moon, and stars revolved around it. They 
had begun, however, to believe that it was not flat, but a 
round globe, and the traveller who had thought it was the 
moon made Englishmen restless, was convinced that it would 
be possible to go all round it. In the very centre of the 
earth they believed hell was placed. 

Learned men wasted a great deal of time, and wore out 
their lives, in trying to make gold. They were 
fully convinced that, in some way or other, by mix- Alchem y- 
ing, melting, and evaporating, or by some chemical process, 
they would be able to make the precious metal which all 
men coveted. They never succeeded, and it has now been 
long believed that gold is one of the simple elements ; but, 
doubtless, though they never succeeded in that, they found 
out many curious facts about the things with which they 
made their experiments. So that as the astrologers helped 
to find out the truths of astronomy, the alchemists found 
out many of the truths of chemistry, — as, for instance, about 
gases, salts, acids, etc., which it is very useful to know, and 
we have the comfort of thinking that all their toil was not 
wasted. 

The well-bred young squire, of whom Chaucer gives such 
a pleasant account, was, perhaps, hardly a fair specimen of 
his class. Langland has a great deal to say about 
the fashionable young lords who cared for nothing R res ? °S 
but idleness, gayety, and fine clothes. They spend 
all their money in chains and ornaments, and " except their 
sleeves slide on the earth," they are very wroth. 

Parliament interfered with the love of finery, and tried to 
fix rules for the dress of people according to their rank. 
Kings and the royal family were to have the best furs, as 



288 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

ermine, and ornaments of pearls, etc. The richer knights 
and ladies might have cloth of gold or silver embroidered 
with jewels, and trimmed with miniver. Poor knights and 
squires had cloth of silver, and their ribands and girdles 
" reasonably " embroidered with silver. Those who were of 
a lower rank were not to wear any silk, any silver, or any 
ornaments of gold or jewels. If any one ventured to wear 
a dress forbidden by these laws, it was to be taken away 
from him. 

There was great luxury among the higher classes. Kings 

and great lords kept enormous households, and lived with 

lavish magnificence. If it were worth while, we 

Their food. coulcl find out a gTeat ^^ a ^ ont their diet, for 

amongst the other books that were j:mblished about this 
time, there was a cookery-book ! They were fond of flavor- 
ing with pepper and saffron, wine and vinegar, and seem to 
have taken vast pains with their dishes. Here is a receipt 
for making an apple-pie: "Take gode applys, and gode 
spyces, and figys, and reysons, and perys (pears), and whan 
they are well y-brayed (pounded) coloure with saffron wel, 
and do yt in a cofyn, and do yt forth to bake wel." A coffin, 
Ave must understand, at that time meant any sort of box, 
and here it was what we should call a " mould." The coun- 
try gentleman evidently liked pepper and vinegar and high 
seasoning. 

" Wo was his coke but if bis sauce were 
Poignant and sbarpe " — 

" It snewed in bis bouse of meat and drink." 

He had every kind of dainty, varying with the seasons : fish, 
meat, partridges, etc. ; plenty of good wine and ale ; and. his 
table stood ready covered all day long. 

In the winter people had to eat a great quantity of salted 
meat. One of the great lords had at one time in his larder, 
which must have been a pretty large one, six hundred bacon 
(salted pigs), eighty carcases of beef, and six hundred sheep, 
for they salted mutton in those days as well as beef and pork. 
But this was at the end of the winter, so we may imagine 
what he had at the beginning. He had besides, alive, 
twenty-eight thousand sheep, and enormous numbers of 
oxen, cows, and pigs. 

All this was to feed the innumerable servants and depend- 
ents of all sorts whom he kept, These servants, who had 



MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 289 

not much work to do, grew very idle and self-indulgent. 
They were always complaining of their food ; they 
disdained salt meat, and grumbled when there was ervants - 
no roast ; they quarrelled with the cookery and with the beer, 
just as the same class does to-day. There was a law passed 
that the servants were not to expect to eat meat and fish 
twice a day. 

Meanwhile, people who were poor were very badly off 
indeed. The most sad and grievous fault of this time Avas 
that the rich and the poor were so far apart, and 
hardly seemed to know or feel that they were of e P oor - 
one flesh and blood. We know as well, however, Iioav the 
poor lived as we do about the dinners of the rich. Chaucer 
gives us particular account of a certain poor widow, who 
lived with her two daughters in a narrow cottage in a dale ; 
this same cottage, he says, was "full sooty." Her table was 
mostly served with white and black. The white was milk 
and the black was bread, — white bread being a delicacy in 
those days ; most people ate coarse, very dark colored bread, 
made of rye or barley, with beans or peas. She had bacon, 
and sometimes an egg or two. This was not very bad fare, 
as far as nourishment went ; but sometimes the poor were 
much worse off than that. This widow, who lived in the 
country, had some cows and some pigs ; that was how she 
got her milk and bacon. She had poultry too, and the rest 
of Chaucer's story is taken up with the adventures of her 
cocks and hens. 

There is a piteous description of still poorer people given 
by Langland. He feels for the women most, where they 
have large families to keep. They spend all their time in 
carding and spinning wool, and can hardly earn enough to 
buy milk and flour for their children. They themselves 
suffer much hunger and woe in the winter; they have to 
get up at night to rock the cradle ; they have to mend and 
wash; beside all this, they must card and comb the wool 
ready for spinning, or they would not get food for their 
children. The winter time is always the hardest for the 
poor, but it used to be much worse then than it is now. 
The plowman mentions what he has to depend upon in the 
spring before harvest. He had no bacon left, nor had he a 
penny to buy pigs or geese, which were the commonest 
animals then, for pigs could feed in the woods, and geese on 
the commons; he had some cheese and curds and cream, 



290 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOKY. 

some coarse bread made of beans, peas, and oats, a few 
vegetables, some half-ripe cherries and apples. And this 
poor fare must last till harvest, when he will be better off. 

But when the better times came, and the laborers were 
getting more wages, they were very extravagant; it was 
just as it had been in William of Malmesbury's days; they 
were more inclined to " revelling " than to laying by their 
money. They would not eat the coarse brown bread, but 
must have the finest wheaten bread; no " half-penny ale " 
for them, but the strongest and brownest that brewers 
could make ; nor would they eat bacon, but fresh hot meat 
or fish. And so it went on till the bad weather came again, 
and hunger pinched them. 

Langland gives sound advice to the different classes of 
people. lie does not wish the lords and knights to 
Langland's turn ploughmen, but to leave off their follies and 
admoni- fopperies. They are to be merciful to their tenants, 
to take no gifts from the poor, nor to hurt their 
bondmen. They are to reprove robbers, flatterers, and false 
men, and to help to keep good order in the land. He says 
they ought to hunt wild beasts ; and we have to remember 
that at that time the greater part of the country was still 
wild forest and waste land, full of foxes, hares, and other 
creatures, which did great harm to the farmers. There 
seem even to have been wolves still, which, he says, worried 
men, women, and children. So he desires the knights to 
hunt these and the wild birds of prey on the week-days; 
but to go to church on Sundays, and attend to their religion. 

The merchants are to trade honestly, and to use their 
Avealth in repairing hospitals for the sick, in mending- 
bridges which are broken down, helping poor sick people 
and prisoners, and to do other charitable works, and then 
he promises no devil shall hurt them. 

The lawyers are not to take bribes, but for the love of the 
Lord they are to speak for the innocent and poor, and to 
comfort them. 

The sick, the blind, and the unfortunate are to be helped 
and comforted ; but the idle beggars are to be set to work. 
They AYe to be fed with dog's food until they will work ; 
but when they have deserved it they shall sup the better. 

Women are to do a good deal of needlework. Some of 
them are to sew sacks for the wheat ; the ladies, with their 
long fingers, should sew with silk, and work vestments for 



MEDIAEVAL ENGLAND. 291 

the clergy ; and they should all spin wool and flax to make 
cloth for the poor, and help the laborer who wins their food. 
There is one set of people he cannot put up with at all — 
the jugglers and story-tellers, who went about to amuse the 
people. As he was of a very grave and melancholy sort of 
character, anything like fun and merry-making was, as Solo- 
mon says, "like vinegar upon nitre" to him. We need not 
agree with him in this, but otherwise we shall perhaps all 
feel that the world would still be the better if the spirit of 
his advice were followed. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

NEW ASPIRATIONS. 

Wyclif. The English Bible. Richard IT. Wat Tyler and the insurrection of 
the people. Its results. 

Of all the great men who lived in Edward III.'s long 
reign, and that of his successor, Richard II., the one whose 
work was the most important and has borne the most pre- 
cious fruit was John Wyclif, who has been called the father 
of the Reformation. The Reformation may be considered 
as the greatest event in the history of England, because it is 
that which has most affected the lives, and thoughts, and 
actions of its people. 

It has been seen that for several hundred years there had 
been disputes with the Pope, from the time when William the 
Conqueror disdainfully refused to do homage to him for the 
kingdom of England. There was the struggle in Henry II.'s 
time, which ended in the murder of Becket and Henry's hum- 
ble submission. A little later we find King John acknowl- 
edging the Pope as master, doing homage to his legate for 
his crown, and paying him a large tribute. Though this 
caused great fury and indignation among the English, it was 
never formally put an end to till, in the reign of Edward 
III., the whole Parliament, lords, commons, and bishops too, 
agreed to cast it off, and declared they would not only not 
pay the arrears of the tribute, but would never pay any more. 

But these disputes were what we may call political ; they 

were all concerning worldly affairs, and had nothing to do 

with religious belief. Until this time the English people 

believed every one of the doctrines of the Roman Church; 

John Wyclif was the first man who expressed 

yc 1 ' doubt of some of those doctrines, and taught other 
people to do the same.* He was a clergyman, a man of 

* Wyclif was the king's chaplain, and his first treatise was in defence 
of the king's prerogative against the claim of the Pope. His departure 
in doctrine was at a later day. His early works were in Latin. 

292 



NEW ASPIRATIONS. 293 

great ability and learning, the head of Balliol College at 
Oxford. He was also a man of a strong character; very 
religious, and heartily in earnest in whatever he did. 

Wyclif saw, as Chaucer and Langland did, the wickedness 
ami hypocrisy of many of the friars, and the evil they 
wrought among the people. He wrote against them, and 
he preached against them; and his treatises and sermons, 
being very forcible and in the vulgar tongue, had a great 
effect on men's minds. One time he fell very ill and was 
thought to be dying; upon which a deputation of friars paid 
him a visit, and, after a few polite wishes for his health, they 
exhorted him, now that he was at the point of death, that 
he would, "as a true penitent, bewail and revoke in their 
presence whatever things he had said to their disparage- 
ment. But Wyclif, immediately recovering strength, called 
his servants to him and ordered them to raise him a little 
on his pillows, which •when they had done, he said with a 
loud voice, 'I shall not die, but live, and declare the evil 
deeds of the friars.' On which they departed from him in 
confusion." 

During the time when John of Gaunt was managing the 
kingdom in his father's old age, he was engaged in a great 
political strife with the clergy and bishops, and j ohnof 
was very glad to find a helper in Wyclif. Accord- Gaunt pro- 
ingiy, for a time he favored and protected him. tects him - 
"Apostolic poverty for the clergy was the idea they had in 
common ; it was recommended to them by very different 
reasons," says a modern historian. 

Wyclif soon began to use very strong language about the 
Pope, calling him "Antichrist, a proud and worldly priest, 
and the most cursed of purse-clippers and kervers" (carvers). 
The Archbishop of Canterbury suspended him, and he was 
summoned to appear before an assembly of bishops at St. 
Paul's Church in London. John of Gaunt and the 1377 
Lord Marshal of England, Henry Percy, went with Assembly 
Wyclif, to protect and encourage him in case of ops " 

any violence. There was an immense concourse of people 
crowding around, and within the Ladye Chapel a grand 
assembly of dukes and lords, besides the bishops and arch- 
bishops. 

The lords and the bishops soon fell to cpiarrelling. The 
story is amusingly told by Foxe, who wrote the lives of the 
English reformers. A few words of Lord Percy, lie snvs, 



294 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

cast the Bishop of London "into a furnish chaff;"* and 
very soon a fire began to heat and kindle between them, 
" insomuch that they began so to rate and revile one the 
other that the whole multitude, therewith disquieted, began 
to be set in a hurry." John of Gaunt spoke upon Wyclif's 
side; to whom the bishop, "nothing inferior in reproachful 
checks and rebukes, did render and requite to him not only 
as good as he brought, but also did so far excel him that the 
duke blushed and was ashamed, because he could not over- 
pass the bishop in brawling and railing." The duke pres- 
ently whispered (not so low but that he could be overheard) 
that " he would rather drag the bishop out of the church by 
the hair of his head than he would take this at his hand." 
Then the citizens stood up for their bishop, and " with scold- 
mo- and brawling" the council broke up without hearing 
Wyclif. 

After this the Pope issued a bull against Wyclif ; but no 

harm came of it, for John of Gaunt still protected him, and 

this time the citizens of London also took his part. When 

this Pope died, the state of the Roman Church grew still 

worse than before, since it became divided against 

1378, itself, and two rival popes were set up, one at Kome, 
the other at Avignon, who were most furious enemies to 
each other, and set the whole Christian world at enmity. 
The English took the side of one Pope, and the French 
that of the other, and each party called the opposite one 
" dogs." 

The Pope whom the English supported sent some of those 
"sacks full of pardons" to England, and proclaimed that he 
would absolve from every crime or fault those who would 
help him in destroying his enemies. These pardons, of 
course, were not to had for nothing; but so eagerly were 
they bought that, in the diocese of London alone, " there 
was collected," says Froissart, "a large Gasconv tun full of 
money, ... and it was solemnly declared that all who had 
given' their money, and should die at this time, were absolved 
from every fault." 

The doctrine which Wyclif first questioned was that 
concerning the sacrament, and the miraculous change in 
the bread and wine, which was called transubstantiation. 

* The " few words " of Lord Percy were (in modern slang) only 
" chaff," and the bishop was a match for him. — Ed. 



NEW ASPIRATIONS. 295 

But he soon went on to other doctrines too, such as " par- 
dons," pilgrimages, worship of the saints, and worship of 
their images. When, by the course of events, he was placed 
in opposition to the Pope and the Church on political 
grounds he had time to look at abuses and dogmas, and to 
reason for himself. For many years his great work was 
translating the Bible into English ; and while he was work- 
ing and studying at that, his mind returned to the simplicity 
of primitive Cnristianity. 

The popes and the councils of the Church had by this 
time decided that lay people had no right to read the Bible. 
In the old Anglo-Saxon times it had been different, and 
such people as knew how to read had been encouraged to 
read their Bibles. But the clergy had grown more proud, 
and more anxious to keep the power and influence in their 
own hands. 

If the common people could read, then they might judge, 
and that would put the laity more on a level with The cj,^^ 
the clergy. But the clergy, perhaps, honestly and the 
thought plain men could not understand the Scrip- 
tures, and might " wrest them," as St. Paul says, " to their 
own destruction," and it became a settled rule of the Church 
that no layman should read the Bible. The clergy only 
could rightly understand the Scriptures, and the laity might 
listen humbly to the parts they chose to read to them. 

Wyclif loved truth better than power and greatness. He 
soon found people to agree with him, even some of the 
clergy ; those he sent about everywhere preaching to the 
j:>eople ; * two of the most learned of them he kept w ,.« 
to help him translate the Bible. Another clergy- transla- 
man, one of the Church party, wrote of Wyclif in tlon " 
these terms. " Christ delivered his gospel to the clergy and 
doctors of the Church, that they might administer to the laity, 
and to weaker persons, according to the state of the times and 
the wants of man. But this Master John Wyclif translated 
it out of Latin into English, and thus laid it more open to the 
laity, and to women who can read, than it formerly had been 
to the most learned of the clergy. . . . And in this way the 
gospel pearl is cast abroad and trodden under foot of swine, 



* Aside from his translation of the Bible, Wyclif s greatest work was 
in his training of great numbers of "poor priests" for parochial visi- 
tation and open-air preaching. 



296 G Test's ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and that which was before precious both to clergy and laity 
is rendered, as it were, the common jest of both! The 
jewel of the Church is turned into the sport of the people, 
and what was hitherto the principal gift of the clergy and 
divines is made forever common to the laity. 11 

Wyclif and his friends took great pains to get copies of 
the new translation made and circulated as widely as possi- 
ble. But as in those days books were wholly in manuscript, 
they were very expensive. A New Testament of Wyelif's 
version cost, not long after this, £2 16s. &d., which was as 
much as twenty or thirty pounds now. His translation is 
the basis of our present Bible, but in time a new transla- 
tion became necessary, first on account of the changes going 
on in the language, next, because Wyclif, not being a Greek 
scholar, had made his translation from the Latin Vulgate. 
Still with pains we could read and understand his English. 
Some of his phrases are very pithy. For the verse, " He 
knoweth our frame, He remembereth that we are dust," he 
puts, "He knew our britil making." 

The bishops were indignant with Wyclif, and tried to 
have him imprisoned or silenced. "When Wyclif began to 

attack the doctrines of the Church, John of Gaunt 
Hei sper- ceased to take his part. He did not wish to alter 

his belief, or other people's, but only to get the 
power and wealth of the clergy. For a long time the Uni- 
versity of Oxford stood by Wyclif, but at last it had to give 
in, and he and his followers were banished from that city. 
Why Wyclif was not sentenced to death or imprisonment 
is not clearly known, but he had powerful friends in court. 
Probably John of Gaunt still protected him personally, 
though he no longer sided with him ; he was also favored 
by the good and beloved wife of King Richard II. 

"He was permitted to retire to his parish at Lutterworth, 
and there he spent most of his time in improving his trans- 
lation of the Bible. At last the English bishops appealed 
to the Pope, and Wyclif was summoned to appear at Rome 
to give an account of himself. But he was now too old and 
infirm to go, though he said he would cheerfully have gone 
if possible, for he was always glad to explain his faith to any 

one, and above all to the Bishop of Rome. Very 
His d^ath soon a ^ tei ' &*&> whilst lie was performing the service 

in his church, he was struck with paralysis, and in 
two days died. The first of our English reformers, though 



NEW ASPIRATIONS. 297 

he had a stormy life, had a peaceful death. Persecution had 
not become as cruel in England as it did afterwards ; but, as 
if the Church of Rome repented of its gentleness towards 
Wyclif, about forty years later the Pope commanded his 
bones to be dug up out of bis grave, burned to ashes, and 
then thrown into a brook.* But Foxe remarks upon this, 
" Though they digged up his body, burned his bones, and 
drowned his ashes, yet the word of God and the truth of His 
doctrine they could not burn ; which yet to this day do re- 
main, notwithstanding the transitory body and bones of the 
man were thus consumed and dispersed." 

In the midst of all this stir of thought, the old King Ed- 
ward III. died, having reigned fifty years. His end was as 
melancholy as William the Conqueror's. He was 1377 
deserted by all his friends ; none even of his child- Death of 
ren were near him ; and his wicked favorite Alice, war 
who had returned after her banishment, stole the very rings 
off his fingers. The Prince of "Wales's young son Richard, 
who was only eleven years old, was made king. Every one 
thought that his uncle, John of Gaunt, would have liked to 
take his place, and in former times it is probable that he 
might have done so; for, though Henry III. had been made 
king while still a child, Richard was the first instance of a 
grandson of the last king succeeding to the throne. But as 
John of Gaunt was very unpopular, and had made a great 
many enemies, while every one was disposed to love the 
young prince for the sake of his father, the Black Prince, he 
contented himself with watching his opportunities. 

The first notable event in Richard II.'s reign was what is 
sometimes called "the peasants' revolt," and sometimes, in a 
more dignified way, " the rising of the commons." We have 
seen how miserably the poor lived, and that, though many 
had in one way or another become free, the greater number 
were still serfs or villeins. These poor men, in return for 
their cottages and little plots of land, had to plough and 
reap, thrash and winnow, and do many other things for their 
lords without wages. They were now, however, beginning 
to feel their power, and to murmur against the oppression of 
their masters. Many of the same class in other countries, 
especially in Flanders, had already risen in revolt, and those 

* The order to dig up and burn his bones was passed by the Council 
of Constance, 1394. The sentence was carried out in 142b. — Ed. 



298 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

in England were in a very dissatisfied condition. When 
things are in that state, it is like gunpowder only waiting for 
a match. 

The war with France was still going on, and, as usual, 
there was a great want of money. When it was found that 

the customary taxes would not bring in enough, a 
The poll- new one was levied, which was called the poll-tax, 

that is, a tax on everybody's head. It was arranged 
on a sliding scale. The Duke of Lancaster, who was the 
highest subject in the kingdom, was to pay £6 13«. 4(7. ; earls 
were to pay £4, barons £2, and so on down to the lowest; 
and every one of these, excepting beggars, was to pay a 
groat, which is 4<l, but of course wns worth a great deal 
more then, perhaps about 5s. Still the government did not 
get enough, and next year there was another poll-tax. For 
every one in the country over fifteen years old three groats 
were to be paid; only it was said, in :i general way, that the 
rich were to help the poor. When it was left in that vague 
manner it was certain the rich would not do more than they 
could help, and it would fall very heavily on the poor. The 
tax-collectors too were violent and rapacious. 

Here was the spark that set the gunpowder alight. The 
poor people rose, not only in one or two places, but almost 

all over the kingdom. It seemed as if they could 
Rising 1 of no * have had time to plan together, or communi- 
thepeas- cate ; there were no telegraphs or even post-offices 

then. But all at once, in counties far and near, 

the people rose. In Yorkshire, Lancashire, Devonshire, 

Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Kent, the peasants were up in arms. 

Their leaders were poor men like themselves, "fellows with 

no surnames." The lower orders of people at this time had 

no family names. The principal leader of the people was a 

man whose trade was to make tiled roofs, and who 
Wat Tyler. wng cal]ed Wat Ty j er There wag ^ Qne wh() 

had perhaps been a thatcher, as he was called Jack Straw. 
'And another very important one was a priest named John 
Ball. 

Froissart, who must have been growing old now, but was 

still busy writing his history, gives an account of the rising. 

He had not much sympathy with the poor, and gives a dis- 

l»araoinor account of their leaders. He calls Wat 

Tnrin "Rail 

Tyler a bad man, and a great enemy to the nobil- 
ity ; and John Ball " a crazy priest." He gives us a speci- 



NEW ASPIRATIONS. 299 

men of Ball's sermons. "Every Sunday after mass, as the 
people were coming out of church, this John Ball was accus- 
tomed to assemble a crowd around him in the market-place 
and preach to them. On such occasions he would say, My 
good friends, matters cannot go on well in England until all 
things shall be in common ; when there shall be neither 
vassals nor lords ; when the lords shall be no more masters 
than ourselves. How ill they behave to us ! For what 
reason do they thus hold us in bondage ? Are we not all 
descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve? And 
what can they show, or what reason can they give, why they 
should be more masters than ourselves? They are clothed 
in velvets and rich stuffs, ornamented with ermine and other 
furs, while we are forced to wear poor clothing. They have 
wines, spices, and fine bread, while we have only rye and 
the refuse of the straw. They have handsome seats and 
manors, while Ave must brave the wind and rain in our 
labors in the fields, and it is by our labor they have where- 
with to support their pomp. We are called slaves, and if 
we do not perform our service Ave are beaten. . . ." There 
seems so much truth and sense in this that one wonders 
Froissart could write it down Avithout perceiving it too. 
The same Archbishop of Canterbury Avho had suspended 
Wyclif put John Ball in prison for two or three months, 
but as soon as he came out he began preaching again as be- 
fore. It is said that his favorite text to these sermons was 
a rhyme — 

" When Adam delved and Eve span, 
Who was then a gentleman ?" 

In the old Bible pictures, such as most likely were painted on 
all the church Avails at that time, they always shoAved Adam 
and Eve digging and spinning, so the people would quite 
understand that rhyme. 

Froissart, as Ave have seen, had no feeling for these people, 
nor had Gower the poet. He Avas a rich gentleman living 
in Kent, Avhere the worst of the rioting Avas. He wrote 
a good deal about it, sometimes satirically, and at others 
indignantly. He compares the peasants to oxen and asses. 
"Asses, disdaining the curb, rose like wild lions to seek their 
prey, and, leaping about the fields, terrified all the citizens 
with their wild hee-aAV. They would no longer carry sacks 
into the tOAvn, nor bend their backs to any burden. They 
claim to be lodged and combed like horses." Still he thinks 



800 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the revolt would not have happened had there not heen great 
evils in the land. 

At last then the people ruse and resolved to free them- 
selves. As might he expected they did many had things 
even at first; hut, for a moh of oppressed and down-trodden 
people, it seems wonderful they did no worse. They buret 
into the manor-houses and ransacked them. When they 
found the lists of the villeins on each estate, and the work 
they were hound to do, they burned them. They put to death 
a great many lawyers and other officials, whom they looked 
on (perhaps very truly) as their oppressors, and burned their 
houses. Wat Tyler and John Ball, with a great troop 
behind them, marched up from Dartford in Kent to Black- 
heath ; and the rich men in London, in great alarm, shut 
the city gates, and tried to keep them from crossing London 
Bridge. 

But as many of the lower people in London were on their 
side, and as also there was much fear that the moh would 
Th re- bum down the fine houses and suhurhs outside the 
voltersin city gates, they were obliged after a time to let 
London. th eiu in. The most of the rioters did not mean 
any harm; they sent messages to the young king, saying that 
they respected and would obey him, hut that they must tell 
him their grievances, and they hoped he would set them 
right. 

At first "they did no hurt, and took nothing from any 
man." But, out of fear or false kindness, people set a great 
deal of meat and drink before them, and when they had once 
tasted the strong wine they could never have enough of it. 
Then they grew wild and violent. They had a great hatred 
of John of Gaunt, and declared they would never have a 
king named John. They now seized on his palace, the 
Savoy Palace, in which the French king had lived so long, 
and set fire to it; though it was full of silver and gold and 
jewels they did not steal anything; and one man, who was 
found carrying some valuables away, they put to death as a 
thief; hut, unfortunately they drank a great quantity of his 
wine. 

In the excitement a great many men were killed, and a 
horrible night was spent in London ; murder and drink on 
one side, and terror and fury on the other. When morning 
came it was thought best to try and appease them, and, as 
they had demanded to see the king, it was agreed that he 



NEW ASPIEATIONS. 301 

should go and meet them. Accordingly, Richard, who was 
about fifteen or sixteen, and was a spirited young- 
fellow, sent word to them to retire to " a handsome ^ e _ young: 
meadow at Mile-End, where in the summer-time 
people go to amuse themselves," and he would meet them 
there. About sixty thousand of the peasants assembled. 
They must have been sober by this time, for they behaved 
very well. 

They made four petitions to the king. The first was 
that they should be set free for ever, they and their chil- 
dren ; they would no longer be called slaves nor held in 
bondage. Secondly, that a free pardon should be granted 
to all. Thirdly, that they might buy and sell in any market 
that they liked. And fourthly, that good land should be let 
at fourpence an acre. That last sounds absurd to us now, 
but there were reasons which made it not so absurd then. 

King Richard promised to grant all their demands, and, 
speaking very calmly and sensibly to them, " his word greatly 
appeased the more moderate of the multitude, who said, ' It 
is well ; we wish for nothing more.' " Great numbers of 
them then returned quietly to their homes, and no one can 
deny that they had behaved wonderfully well. 

Meanwhile, unhappily, a great part of the mob had not 
gone to Mile-End at all, but had stayed rioting in London. 
Whilst the king's back was turned, some of the lawyers and 
other men were murdered; especially the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, who had put John Ball in prison. The rabble 
went on drinking Rhenish wine and Malmsey Madeira. 
Moreover, many of those who remained would not be con- 
tent with what the king had promised, but plotted a number 
of wicked schemes ; or, at least, so Jack Straw is said to 
have confessed afterwards. 

The next day the king, with only about sixty followers, 
fell in with a great body of the insurgents at Smithfield, 
and, seeming still anxious to pacify them, had some talk 
with their leader. But Wat Tyler behaving insolently, and 
threatening one of the king's attendants, the Mayor of Lon- 
don, William Walworth, who was in Richard's train, struck 
him from his horse, and he was killed. Upon seeing this 
his followers set themselves in battle array, and bent their 
bows. It was a perilous moment; but the young king, with 
rare spirit and courage, rode boldly forward alone, saying, 
"I am your king; I will be your leader." The rioters, 



302 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

struck with admiration or shame, attempted no further vio- 
lence, but really followed the king. Soon a large body of 
citizens hastened to the spot to protect him, and the crowds, 
at Richard's command, quietly returned home. Thus ended 
the revolt; for the insurgents in the other counties, hearing 
how those in London had submitted, for the most part dis- 
persed of themselves; the others were put down by force. 

The worst part of the story is still to be told. None of 
the king's fair promises were kept. As to the free pardon 
that had been granted, not only were the leaders, 
End of the John Ball and Jack Straw, beheaded, but a great 
many others were executed also ; in all, it is said, as 
many as fifteen hundred. This was not wholly the fault of 
Richard. His pardon had been granted before he knew of 
the murder of the archbishop and the others, which took 
place in his absence. Perhaps, too, he would have liked 
to keep his promise about freeing the villeins, for when Par- 
liament met he begged them to consider the propriety of 
abolishing the system of serfdom or villeinage. But Parlia- 
ment refused ; they said " no one should rob them of their 
villeins." 

Thus it would seem as if all had been in vain. But it 
was not so really; the insurrection bore fruit. The poll-tax- 
was entirely done away with ; and though the mas- 
Results. ters wou i ( ] not? hi so nian y words, set the villeins 
free, it appears that the spirit the men had shown made 
them a great deal more careful as to their treatment. Grad- 
ually they saw, perhaps, how much better the plan of hiring 
and paying laborers worked. Thus, at the end of fifty years 
from the plague of the Black Death, the long struggle of 
the laborers succeeded at last, and every Englishman was 
free. 

Before leaving this subject we will notice for a moment 
how the like conflict went on in France. There, too, the 
peasants had been oppressed, far more than in England: 
the serfs had been treated like beasts of burden. They rose 
up at last against their oppressors, plundered and burned 
their castles, and massacred the nobles, men, women, and 
children. The English revolters did nothing at all like this; 
there was nothing which could be called a "massacre." We 
may think the English government was very unjust and 
cruel in the punishments it inflicted, but it was mild and 
merciful compared with the French. The dauphin on one 



NEW ASPIRATIONS. 303 

occasion killed twenty thousand of the peasants ; they were 
cut down in heaps, crushed to death, and slaughtered like 
wild beasts. In some parts the whole country was cleared 
of them by the savage butchery of the knights and lords. 

In England, as Ave have seen, it was not very long before 
justice and the right prevailed. The English nation went 
on, more or less peacefully, growing in liberty and unity. 
The French nobles, no doubt, thought they had " stamped 
out " the rebellion. They continued century after century 
to treat the poor as badly as ever, and at last came the 
frightful explosion of the French Revolution. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



RICHARD THE REDELESS. 



Character of Richard. His uncles. Troubles of the reign. Death of the Duke 
of Gloucester. Richard aims at absolute power. Henry of Lancaster. His 
banishment. His return. Deposition of Richard. 

Richard's behavior at the time of the revolt showed 
great presence of mind, courage, and a certain generosity, 
and it might have been hoped that a youth possessing these 
qualities would grow into a fine and noble king. But it 
was not so ; for though he was handsome, clever, and affec- 
tionate, as well as high-spirited, he grew up headstrong, 
proud, self-willed, and very revengeful ; he had been spoiled 
by flattery and bad management in his youth, and never 
learned how to govern himself ; far less, therefore, could he 
govern a great kingdom. He soon gained the title of Rich- 
ard the Redeless, which has the same meaning as the old 
nickname of Ethelred the Unready, the unwise or uncoun- 
selled one. 

While he was young his uncles strove to get all the power 
they could, and gave great offence to the king. It 

uncles ingS nas ' ^ een seen tnat ^ omi °* Gaunt, Duke of Lan- 
caster, had set public opinion against him by his 
pride and extravagance, and that the common people were 
so hostile to him they had burned his palace, and declared 
they would never have a king named John. But after that 
time he appears to have changed his conduct, and to have 
become a peace-maker. In Shakespeare's play of Richard IL, 
John of Gaunt appears as a very noble character and great 
lover of his country, but this picture could only have been 
true of him in his later years. 

Another younger son of Edward III. was the Duke of 
York. He does not seem to have been able like his brothers, 
nor ever to have quite known his own mind, or what side 
he meant to take; as we may read in Shakespeare's play. 
It is important to remember these two dukes, because it 

304 



RICHARD THE UEDELESS. 305 

was their descendants who caused the long and dreadful 
civil wars between the houses of Lancaster and York. 

The youngest uncle of the king was the Duke of Glouces- 
ter. He was shrewd and ambitious, and as soon as John of 
Gaunt retired he got most of the power into his own hands. 
Richard had his favorites, and they were hated as Gavestou 
and Hugh le Despenser had been. The Duke of Gloucester, 
who had gained great influence, encouraged the Parliament 
to make a dead set against these favorites, and to call on the 
king to dismiss them. Richard was growing up very haughty 
and arrogant, and he replied that for such men as the mem- 
bers of Parliament he would not dismiss the meanest servant 
in his kitchen. 

But by this time Parliament had become too powerful to 
be treated in this high-handed way. Richard had to sub- 
mit. His ministers were dismissed and banished ; 
a new administration was appointed, with the Duke 
of Gloucester at its head, and leaving Richard a mere puppet. 
The Duke of Gloucester in his turn used his power very 
tyrannically; a great many knights, judges, and others 
whom lie looked on as his enemies were put to death, and 
when the king attempted to interfere, the duke led an 
army of forty thousand men against him. Richard had to 
yield once more, and his friends tied for their lives. 

Before long, however, Gloucester's power came to an end. 
One day, in the midst of a great council, the king, turning 
suddenly to the duke, said, "Uncle, how old am 1389 
I?" "Your highness," replied the duke, "is in Richard 
your t went) -second year." "Then," said Richard, the U au- S 
" I must certainly be old enough to manage my thority. 
own affairs ; I am much obliged to you, my lords, for your 
past services, but I want them no longer." So he put down 
the Duke of Gloucester's ministers, and set up others in their 
stead, and governed the country himself. Things went on 
very quietly for eight years; but all that time he kept in his 
own heart the determination to be revenged on his uncle and 
those who had supported him. 

During this quiet time he made an effort to subdue the 
people of Ireland. They were still as wild as they had been 
in the days of Henry II. Even the Englishmen 
who had settled down in the country had become " 

quite as uncivilized as the natives. Richard showed great 
skill and good sense in his way of treating them, and by a 



306 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

blending of firmness with gentleness, he brought the island 
for the time to obedience and a reasonable degree of order. 
The four Irish kings did homage to him. He treated them 
with kindness and courtesy, knighted them, and tried to 
civilize them. The English gentleman who was intrusted 
with the task of teaching them good manners gave a very 
droll account of his difficulties, and the pains he took to 
break them of their uncouth habits ; such as making grim- 
aces as they sat at table, and eating out of the same plates 
with their servants and minstrels. He tried to make them 
wear dresses of silk and fur like English princes; but he 
complains that they would frequently return to "their 
coarse behavior." And when, after nine months, Richard 
went back to England, after doing what he could to estab- 
lish justice and peace, all the Irish did as the four kings 
did, and returned to their wild and lawless ways. 

While quite young the king had married a princess of 

Bohemia, whom he dearly loved, and whom all the country 

loved. She Avas called the "good Queen Anne;" 

Anne of she was a friend and protector of Wvclif ; * and it 
Bohemia. ... , . l . . , _ TT -..,,, ' 

was most likely through her that \\ yehi s doctrines 

were carried to Bohemia, and took root there. There is no 
doubt that many of his books were sent to Bohemia, some 
of which are said to remain even now in an ancient library 
at Prague. John Huss and Jerome of Prague, who were 
the earliest reformers on the continent of Europe, probably 
derived their doctrines from him. In England, however, the 
teaching of Wyclif fell into great disfavor after the peasants' 
revolt, because it was generally believed that some of his 
followers, if not he himself, had favored the preaching and 
opinions of John Ball ; and the son of John of Gaunt, 
Wyclif's early protector, afterwards became a cruel persecu- 
tor of those who followed his doctrines. 

Nevertheless the conflict with the Pope on temporal mat- 
1393 ters w r ent on as vigorously as ever, and a law was 
Statute of passed which was called the Statute of Praemunire 
Praemunire. ^ e Latin word with which it began), providing 
heavy penalties upon any who should venture to bring in 
the Pope's bulls, or exercise any authority in his name, in 
the kingdom of England. 

Not long after this Queen Anne died; and when, at the 

* So was the widow of the Black Prince. — En. 



RICHARD THE REDELESS. 307 

end of two years Richard chose a new wife, his choice was 
very displeasing' to the country and to the Duke of Eichard 
Gloucester. The French war was still going on, becomes 
and Richard wished to put an end to it by marry- '"P * * 8 *' 
ing a French princess. Strange to say, in spite of the 
heavy taxes and distress, the English were not at all anxious 
for peace. They had never suffered from the war as the 
French did, because it was all carried on in France, though 
the French nad once or twice tried to invade England. 

Froissart reports the French as saying, " Why should we 
not for once make a visit to England, and learn the way 
thither, as the English have learned the way into France 'i 
Let us go and see how they behave." They believed that if 
they did so " England would be ruined and destroyed beyond 
resource, the men put to death, and the Avomen and chil- 
dren carried in slavery to France." And the English were 
represented as saying in return, " Let them come, and not a 
soul of them shall return to tell the story ! " Once or twice 
a French army did land in England, but no great harm 
came of it. 

The English still wished to carry on the war, and were 
angry with Richard for making a truce for twenty-five 
years, and for marrying the French princess, who 
was a little girl of eight years old. The Duke of 1396- 
Gloucester, in particular, declaimed loudly against it. Now 
was the time when Richard took the revenge he had medi- 
tated so long. The Duke and his friends were ti'eacherously 
seized and imprisoned. Gloucester was sent to the castle in 
Calais, and never appeared again. It was given out that he 
died of apoplexy ; but it was universally believed that he 
was murdered by the 'king's orders. This caused a great 
uproar; the two other dukes prepared to avenge their 
brother's death, and it was with great difficulty that a sort 
of peace was made. And when peace was restored, " the 
king of England," says Froissart, "governed more „. ,. 
fiercely than before. . . . He now assumed greater trary gov- 
state than ever kings of England had done, nor had ernment - 
there been any one who expended such large sums of money. 
... At this period there was no one, however great, in 
England who dared speak his sentiments on what the king 
did or intended doing." 

Richard intended to be an absolute monarch. We have 
seen that the different classes in the country — the lords, the 



308 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

commons, and the Church — had been striving for centuries 
to limit the power of the king, and make him govern, not 
according to his own will, but according to the law of the 
land ; that they had made John sign the charter ; that they 
had given more and more power to the Parliament; that 
they had prevented the king from laying on taxes without 
the consent of Parliament ; that Parliament never would 
consent when the king disregarded the wishes of the nation. 
Richard wished to undo all this work, and for a time he 
seemed to be succeeding. 

But it was not likely that a nation with such a history, 
which had stood up for its liberty and its rights so valiantly, 
was iroino,- to resign them at a word. Richard contrived, 
moreover, to make himself a dangerous enemy, and give his 
opponents the very head they wanted, by his arbitrary way 
of proceeding. 

Though Richard had been made king without opposition, 
and John of Gaunt passed over, there was likely to be a 
difficulty in naming his successor; for he had no 
Henry of children. We should say now, without a doubt, if 
' there were no descendants of Edward III.'s eldest 
son, the right would next come to the descendants of his 
second son. The brother next to the Black Prince was the 
Duke of Clarence, who had been long dead, and who had 
left only a daughter ; still the children of that daughter had 
the next right to the throne. She had married Edmund 
Mortimer, Earl of March, and Richard declared her grand- 
son to be his heir. Thus, as we may say, John of Gaunt 
and his son were quite put out of court. 

But Richard seems to have had an uneasy feeling about 
his cousin Henry, John of Gaunt's son. He was a brilliant 
man, and much liked by the country. Shakespeare tells 
how Richard observed the way he courted the common peo- 
ple, and tried to win their regard by being wonderfully 
polite to them. 

" How he did seem to dive into their hearts 
With humble and familiar courtesy; 
What reverence he did throw away on slaves." 

No doubt the people would remark the contrast between 
him and the king who was "governing so fiercely." 

We may observe here that in the play we find this Henry 
called by a good many different names, — Bolingbroke, Derby, 



RICHARD THE REDELEPS. S09 

Hereford, and Lancaster. Those were all different titles of 
his, and the most important one_ to remember is Lancaster, 
which he assumed after his father's death, because when he 
came to be king he and his son and grandson are called the 
House of Lancaster. 

Henry had a quarrel with the Duke of Norfolk, one of the 
principal nobles, who had formerly opposed the king. The 
latter declared that Henry had used treasonable words about 
his cousin the king. Henry in his turn accused Norfolk of 
being the traitor. As each persisted in declaring his own 
innocence, and the other's guilt, it was decided to appeal to 
the wager of battle. The two were to meet fully armed and 
to fight it out, and whichever conquered would be declared to 
be innocent. To us this appears like deciding that a strong- 
man with good armor, a powerful horse, and a skilful arm 
was always right ; and a weak man, with a poorer horse, was 
always wrong; but the idea was founded on the belief that 
God was constantly interfering to work miracles in the 
affairs of men. They thought that if the two champions 
solemnly appealed to Him, He would if needful work a 
miracle, and let the weaker one vanquish the stronger, if the 
right lay on his side. 

These two great lords appeared before the king and court 
in splendid armor, and ready to tight on this quarrel. But 
just as the fight was about to begin the king inter- 
fered; he forbade the duel and laid a heavy punish- His bail- 
ment on both. The Duke of Norfolk he banished 
from the kingdom for ever; his cousin Henry for ten years, 
which he afterward altered to six. He had perhaps reason 
for believing that there had been some truth in what each 
had said of the other, and that he would be safer with both 
of them out of the country. 

Soon after this old John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster, 

died, and then Richard did the last infatuated act, which 

brought matters to a crisis. Instead of allowing his _. , , 
l-iT ■ -1,1-eii & Richard 

banished cousin to succeed to his father s property, seizes his 

Richard seized on everything for himself. He sent inhentance - 

officers to take possession of the lands and to collect the reitfs ; 

and he gave away some of the estates altogether. It must 

be remembered that nothing had been proved against Henry ; 

and indeed Froissart says "he prided himself on being one 

of the most loyal knights in the universe." Therefore the 

unjust seizure of his inheritance caused a general indignation. 



310 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

At this moment, when he had put himself so thoroughly 
in the wrong, Richard once more proceeded to Ireland. 
That unfortunate island was again in a troubled state ; but 
Richard would have done better to stay at home and look 
after England. He left as regent his uncle, the Duke of 
York, who, besides being naturally of an irresolute character, 
was very old. 

This was the opportunity for Henry of Lancaster. He 
had made friends while in exile with another important 
person, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whom the 
Hlsreturn - despotic Richard had also banished.' These two 
now determined to return to England. Henry landed at 
Ravenspur in Yorkshire (a place which has long since been 
washed away by the sea), professing that he was only come 
to claim his own inheritance. Almost every one took his 
part, especially the great lords of the north, the Earl of 
Northumberland and the Earl of Westmoreland. The Duke 
of York, after wavering for some time, at last also took the 
side of Henry, who was his nephew as well as Richard ; 
though it soon became very evident that he would not rest 
satisfied with his father's possessions, but aimed at being 
king himself. 

Richard, being away in Ireland, heard nothing of these 
movements for a long time. When he got the news, contrary 
winds prevented him from crossing the sea, and by the time 
he returned all was lost. His own men forsook him without 
striking a blow. Richard disguised himself as a priest, and 
wandered about with his few friends seeking help and find- 
ing none. At last he went to Conway in Wales, where the 
Earl of Northumberland was, and surrendered himself. It 
seemed as if all his great pride melted out of him at once. 
He saw very well that his day was past, and his cousin's day 
was begun. 

He was taken to London, where he rode through the 
streets on a wretched horse, while Henry rode on one of 

1399 Richard's own favorite chargers. He was then 
Deposition taken to the Tower, and Parliament was summoned, 
of Richard. The day before it met, the archbishop, who had 
returned from banishment, and the Earl of Northumberland 
made the unfortunate Richard sign a paper, saying that he 
resigned the crown, and absolved the people from their alle- 
giance. He also said that if he could have had leave to 
appoint a successor, he should have chosen his cousin Henry. 



RICHARD THE REDELESS. 311 

The next day this paper was read to the Parliament, and 
also Richard's coronation oath, in which he had sworn to 
rule justly, to keep the charters and respect the laws. After 
this a long list of grievances was read, to show that he had 
broken that oath, and oppressed the people, that he had laid 
taxes illegally, that he had claimed to make and alter the 
laws according to his own will, that he had taken away 
the power of Parliament, that he had deceived and put to 
death his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester, that he had been 
most unjust to his cousin Henry, and many other charges. 
The result was easily foretold. Richard was deposed and 
imprisoned. Henry was made king by both archbishops, by 
the whole Parliament, and by the voice of the country. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



HENRY <»F LANCASTER. 



The Lollards. Persecution. Prince Harry. The Border Wars. Percy and 
Douglas. Owen Glendower. Battle of Shrewsbury. The King of Scotland. 

If the English monarchy had been elective, the choice of 
Parliament and of the nation would have given Henry IV. 
a very good title to be king. But, from of old, it 
Henry's could neither be said to be strictly elective nor 
strictly hereditary. According to the old custom, 
■when the country used to elect as its king a member of the 
royal family, Henry would have been in as good a position 
as King Alfred himself, had Richard been dead. But with 
the growth of the feudal system, people had come to think 
less of election and more of the hereditary right of the king, 
and Henry had not that right. 

As long as Richard was alive no one could tell that his 
friends and the people might not rise in his favor, and 
restore him to his throne. It was certain that Richard 
would not lie long in prison. Just as when the Duke of 
Gloucester had been imprisoned by him and never appeared 
again, but died no one knew how, so it was now with him- 
self. It was soon announced that he was dead, and of course 
it was believed that he was privately murdered by the king's 
order, or permission ; though for a long time after reports 
used to be spread abroad that he was alive, which kept 
Henry in constant alarm. 

Then, too, there was the young Mortimer, who according 
to the laws of inheritance was the real heir, and who was as 
yet a child. Henry had taken possession of him, and kept 
him as a sort of honorable prisoner in the court, where he 
received a good education, and was very well treated. Still 
this was another danger, for any day Henry's enemies might 
try to take him away, and make' him king, as indeed they did 
after a time. 

312 



HENRY OF LANCASTER . 313 

Thus it was b}- no means a bed of roses that Henry pre- 
pared for himself when lie aspired to be King of England, 
and he stroye to conciliate all parties in order to seeure his 
position. Above all, through his whole reign he took care 
never to get into any disputes with the Parliament, to which 
he owed his crown. 

Almost the first act of his reign was a mark of kindness 
and favor bestowed upon the aged poet Chaucer, whom he 
had doubtless known well all his life, on account of his 
father's friendship. Richard was deposed on the 30th of 
September, and on the 3d of October the new king doubled 
Chaucer's pension, but he only lived one year to enjoy it.* 

Though he showed himself thus generous and grateful to 
his father's old friend and his country's great glory, he had 
no such kind feelings to the other famous man, whom John 
of Gaunt had at one time protected, John Wyclif. The 
worst thing in all his reign is that he most cruelly persecuted 
Wyclif's disciples. Wyclif himself, as we saw, died a 
peaceful death, but he had left many followers, whom the 
Church of Rome desired to suppress and punish. These fol- 
lowers of Wyclif were called the Lollards. It is not 
known what that word meant, but it was a term of The Lol- 
contempt. This is part of a description of them, 
said to be written not by one of their friends, but by a 
Roman inquisitor, "The disciples of Wyclif are men of a 
serious, modest deportment ; they avoid all ostentation in 
dress, mix little with the busy world, and complain of the 
wickedness of mankind. They maintain themselves entirely 
by their own labor, despising wealth, being fully content 
with mere necessaries ; . . . they are chaste and temperate, 
never seen in taverns nor amused by vain pleasures. You 
find them always employed either learning or teaching. 
They never swear, they speak little ; in public preaching 
they lay the chief stress upon charity." 

1 he high dignitaries of the church did all they could to 
oppress these harmless men. Henry, perhaps in order to win 
their favor in his difficult position, was very ready 
to help them. One of the first laws passed in his ^ r n secu " 
reign was one commanding that "heretics" should 
be burned alive. Before Henry had been king two years the 



* According to one account Chaucer's wife was sister of the wife 
of John of Gaunt. — Ed. 



314 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

first of these "heretics" as they called them, "martyrs" as 
we call them, was burned in Smithfield. He was a London 
clergyman named William Sawtre, and the principal charge 
brought against him was denying the doctrine of transub- 
stantiation and the worship of the cross. He said that he 
would not worship the cross on which Christ suffered, but 
Christ who suffered on the cross. 

Before he could be put to death it was necessary formally 
to degrade him from his position as a clergyman. The secu- 
lar courts were not allowed to punish a Churchman, and the 
ecclesiastical courts could not punish with death. The priest 
then had to be made into a layman before the sentence could 
be executed. Step by step he was degraded from one office 
after another which he had held in the Church. First the 
priestly vestment and the sacramental cup were taken from 
him, and he was no longer a priest but a deacon ; then the 
New Testament and the deacon's stole were taken, and he 
was only a sub-deacon ; one sacred thing after another, the 
alb, the candlestick, the taper, the lectionary, were taken 
away, till he stood only as a sacristan or sexton, wearing a 
surplice, and holding the church key in his hand. These also 
were removed, the marks of the " tonsure " Or shaven crown 
of his head were clone away with, and he was left a mere lay- 
man. The dishonored and discrowned victim was faithful 
unto death. The archbishop handed him over to the secular 
power, to the high const aide and marshal of England, with 
the hypocritical entreaty that they would receive him favor- 
ably, for the Roman Church always delivered over its vic- 
tims with a recommendation to mercy, and William Sawtre 
was burned at the stake. Many noble and brave 

1401 " men suffered the like in after times ; but we ought 
not to forget this first one, who died for conscience' sake. 

Henry IV. had several sons, the eldest of whom is a very 
famous character. He is often called " Harry Madcap," on 
account of the gay, wild life he led when he was 
Harry y onn o- ^ ls not known whether he really was as 
wild as he is reputed to have been, for it is mostly 
in Shakespeare's plays that we find this description of him, 
and many historians doubt if it is true. But as long as 
people read Shakespeare nobody will ever be able to think 
of Prince Hairy except as a witty, dissipated prince, with 
some touches of better nature, which gave a sort of promise 
of his future glory. 



HENRY OF LANCASTER. 315 

There is one story about him which shows both sides of 
his character, and which is told by Sir John Elyot, but as 
lie lived more than a hundred years later, it is by no means 
certain that the story is true. It is, however, too interest- 
ing and characteristic to be omitted. "The most renowned 
prince, King Henry V., during the life of his father, was noted 
to be fierce, and of wanton courage ; it happened that one of 
his servants whom he well favored was, for felony by him 
committed, arraigned at the King's Bench. Whereof the 
prince being advertised, and incensed by light persons about 
him, in furious rage came hastily to the bar, where his ser- 
vant stood as a prisoner, and commanded him to be ungyved 
and set at liberty ; whereat all men were abashed, saving 
the chief justice, who humbly exhorted the prince that his 
servant might be ordered according to the ancient laws of 
this realm ; or if he would have him saved from the rigor of 
the laws, that he should obtain, if he might, of the king his 
father, his gracious pardon, whereby no law or justice should 
be derogate. With which answer the prince, nothing ap- 
peased, but rather more inflamed, endeavored himself to 
take away his servant. 

"The judge, considering the perilous example and incon- 
venience that might ensue, with a valiant spirit and courage 
commanded the prince, upon his allegiance, to leave the 
prisoner and depart his way. With which commandment 
the prince, being set all in a fury, all chafed and in a terrible 
manner came up to the place of judgment, men thinking 
that he would have slain the judge, or have done to him 
some damage. But the judge, sitting still without moving, 
declaring the majesty of the king's place of judgment, and 
with an assured and bold countenance, said to the prince 
these words following: 'Sir, remember yourself; I keep 
here the place of the king, your sovereign lord and father, 
to whom ye owe double obedience ; wherefore eftsoone, in 
his name, I charge you, desist of your wilfulness and unlaw- 
ful enterprise, and from henceforth give good example to 
those which hereafter shall be your own subjects. . . . And 
now, for your contempt and disobedience, go you to the 
prison of the King's Bench, whereunto I commit you, and 
remain ye there prisoner until the pleasure of the king your 
father be farther known.' With which words being abashed, 
and also wondering at the marvellous gravity of the wor- 
shipful justice, the noble prince, laying his weapon apart, 



316 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

doing reverence, departed, and went to the King's Bench as 
lie was commanded. 

"Whereat his servants, disdaining, came and showed to 
the king all the whole affair; whereat he, awhile studying, 
after, as a man all ravished with gladness, holding his eyes 
ahcl hands up to heaven, abraided,* saying with a loud voice, 
'O merciful God, how much am I, above all other men, 
hound to your infinite goodness, specially for that ye have 
given me a judge who feareth not to minister justice, and 
also a son who can suffer semblably, and obey justice.'" 

Other storms arose to trouble Henry's reign. The first 
began in Wales. It was more than a hundred years since 
Edward I. had conquered that country; but the 
hfwales P eo P^ e had not submitted willingly, nor ceased to 
hate their conquerors. A Welsh gentleman, named 
Owen Glendower, who was said to be descended from the 
last Welsh king, Llewellyn, and who took offence at what 
he considered ill treatment from Henry, rose in rebellion, 
roused up the people, and made war on the English. He 
had at first great success, and took prisoner Edward Morti- 
mer, the uncle of the little heir to the English throne. 
Henry marched against him ; but Wales, with its mountains 
and marshes, was a very difficult country for English soldiers 
to fight in ; and this being the autumn season, there were so 
many storms ami so much snow that the king had to draw 
back. The snow and the storms came in so well to help the 
Welsh that Owen gained the character of a great magician, 
who could govern the weather as it suited him. 

To please the English nobles Henry had determined to 
Troubles can T on tne war w 'th the French which Richard 
on the had tried to put an end to; and the Scotch, as 
bor ers. nsnil \^ were on the side of France. There was 
seldom now any fighting with Scotland on a large scale, as 
in the days of Wallace and Bruce; it was principally a kind 
of marauding war that was carried on along the borders. 
There were two great families especially who were always 
fighting : on the Scotch side the Douglases, and on the Eng- 
lish the Percies, at whose head was the Earl of Northum- 
berland. 

Both parties thoroughly enjoyed this state of things. 
One old writer tells how they would fight with the utmost 

* Abraided, started suddenly. 



HENRY OF LANCASTER. 317 

valor till " sword and lance could endure no longer," and 
then they would part from each other, saying, " Good day, 
and thanks for the sport you have shown ; " or, as Froissart 
said, " they so glorify in their deeds of arms, and are so 
joyful, that, at their departing, courteously they will say, 
'God thank you."' It was one of these little battles that 
was sung about in the splendid old ballad of " Chevy Chase," 
or the battle of Otterbourne. 

The Earl of Northumberland, who had helped Henry IV. 
to the throne, had a famous son, Henry Percy, who, because 
of his impetuosity and fiery character, was called 
Hotspur, and who is described in Shakespeare as Jy S eI>er " 
" the Hotspur of the north ; he that kills me some 
six or seven dozen of Scots at a breakfast, washes his hands, 
and says to his wife, Fie upon this quiet life." 

Just about this time the Percys and the Douglases had a 
fiercer battle than usual, at a place called Homildon Hill, 
where the Scotch were totally defeated, and Douglas and 
some other Scotch nobles made prisoners. The custom in 
those times was that if a man of rank and consequence were 
made prisoner, he would pay a large sum of money to be set 
free, and the Percys expected to receive a heavy ransom for 
these Scotchmen. But the king interfered ; he took one of 
their prisoners away from them, and demanded that the 
ransom of the rest should be paid to him, and not to the 
Percys. 

Hotspur, in the greatest fury and indignation, renounced 
the king's cause, complained bitterly of his ingratitude for 
the services he and his father had rendered to him, and de- 
termined to join his enemies. The first of these with whom 
he made friends was his own prisoner, the Scotch Douglas, 
with whom he had always been fighting hitherto. Then he 
thought of the Welshman, Owen Glendower, who had done 
the very same thing with his prisoner Mortimer. All these 
now allied themselves together against the kino- of England ; 
though, if we are to believe Shakespeare, the impetuous, 
rough, and plain-spoken Hotspur did not get on very well 
with Owen Glendower, who was pompous, prosy, and pre- 
tentious. 

Thus there was a formidable combination against Henry : 
Wales and Scotland, with France backing them up, and, 
worse still, rebels at home. The Percys were soon joined 
by other English nobles who had been Richard's old friends, 



318 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and especially by Scrope, the Archbishop of York. The 
king, however, was prompt and determined, and soon col- 
lected a large army. Prince Henry, who, with all his frolics, 
could be brave and in earnest when needful, helped his father. 
The king had also another clever and courageous young son, 
named John, who afterwards became very distin- 
Battle'of guished. With them he marched against the 
Shrews- rebels. They met at Shrewsbury where a great 
battle was fought, in which the rebels were defeat- 
ed, and Henry Hotspur killed. 

The rebellion was crushed for a time, but before long it 
broke out again. A lady contrived to steal the young 
Mortimer out of Windsor Castle, and to flee away with him, 
but they were soon overtaken, and the prince brought back. 
Altera time the principal conspirators were taken prisoners 
and put to death ; even the Archbishop of York was be- 
headed. Though more than one archbishop had 
" been murdered in England before now, this was the 
first time that a great churchman had been executed by the 
law, and it caused great indignation in the country. Pious 
people began to make pilgrimages to his tomb, and it was 
soon reported that miracles were worked there. 

By degrees, in one way or another, all the great dangers 
which had threatened Henry passed away. His principal 
enemy in France, the Duke of Orleans, was murdered, and 
the Duke of Burgundy, who succeeded to his power and 
influence, was inclined to be friendly to England. So that 
Owen Glendower and his Welshmen were left without the 
help of France, and could do no more harm. The Earl of 
Northumberland was defeated once more and killed. And 
Scotland had to be quiet, for Henry contrived to get into 
his power a most important person, no other than the king 
of Scotland himself. 

All Robert Bruce's descendants in the male line were ex- 
tinct, and the family of one of his daughters had been 
Thekimr ca ^ e< ^ to tne throne. This daughter had married 
of Scot- a great nobleman, the high steward of the king- 
land ' dom. It was customary in those days to surname 

men after their trade or business. Though this was most 
generally done among the lower orders, it was also some- 
times the case in higher ranks, and the lord steward's chil- 
dren and grandchildren came to be called Stewart as their 
family name. This was the beginning of the royal line of 



HENRY OF LANCASTER. 319 

the Stewarts, some of whom were afterwards kings of Eng- 
land. 

Scotland was in a very miserable condition. The kings 
were not strong enough to rule, and there were constant 
tumults, fights, ami murders. The king's eldest son had 
been murdered, and it was thought wise to send the next 
son, who was now heir to the kingdom, to be educated in 
France. But on his way thither some English vessels fell 
in with his ship, took possession of the young Prince James, 
and brought him to Henry. Though England and Scotland 
were now at peace, Henry would not release him. He said, 
in a sort of grim joke, that " if the prince was to learn 
French he could learn it quite as well in his court as in 
France, for that he himself knew French very well." The 
Scotch prince very soon after became king, by right, through 
the death of his father, but even then Henry would not set 
him free. 

He did not treat him ill, but gave him an excellent educa- 
tion, as he had promised, and the young king grew up clever, 
accomplished, and good. He was a poet of some merit. 
After the death of Chaucer there was a dearth of poetry 
until Spenser's time. While James was a prisoner in Eng- 
land he fell in love with an English lady, a relation of the 
king's, about whom he made some beautiful poetry. After a 
time he was allowed to marry this lady. The marriage 
proved a very happy one. He went back to Scotland at 
last, when he had been in England for over eighteen years, 
and was one of the best kings the Scotch ever had. So 
good and just, indeed, was he that the turbulent nobles 
would not submit to him ; they rebelled, and finally mur- 
dered him, his faithful English wife defending him to the 
last. 

Henry IV. did not live long to enjoy the peace which fol- 
lowed. He fell into very bad health, and was liable to 
terrible fits. He had all through his reign been wishing to 
go to the Holy Land and fight a Crusade ; for though the 
Crusades had long been at an end, the thought or the dream 
of winning back the Lord's sepulchre had not yet died away. 
It is probable that his conscience stung him sometimes for 
the way in which he had treated Ids cousin Richard, and 
that he thought to make amends in that way. There had 
been a prophecy too that he should die in Jerusalem. 

At last one day he was praying in Westminster Abbey 



320 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

before the shrine of Edward the Confessor, when he was 
1413 seized with a fit. There was a chamber in the 
Death of abbey, as there is still, called the Jerusalem Chain- 
Henry. jj er j t chanced that the sick king was carried into 
this room. When he came to himself he asked where lie 
was, and on being told that he was in the "Jerusalem Cham- 
ber," he exclaimed, ''Laud be to the Father of heaven ! for 
now I know that I shall die in this chamber, according to 
the prophecy made of me aforesaid, that I should die in 
Jerusalem." And there indeed he died. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



THE CONQUEST OF FRANCE. 



Character of Henry V. Lord Cobham and the Lollards. The war with Franco. 
Harfleur. Battle of Agincourt. Rouen. Treaty of Troyes. The king's 
marriage. His death and burial. 

Though the Prince of Wales, who now became king as 
Henry V., had been dissipated and headstrong, there had 
always been intimations of a high and noble nature, 
and people were now willing to overlook his youth- H g*rv v 
ful follies, and to accept him with good hopes as 
their king. We shall see how completely he changed, as is 
not uncommon in a man of strong character, when, as he 
is passing from youth to manhood, a great crisis occurs in his 
life. All the vigor he had formerly given to his gayeties and 
follies he now turned to serious matters, so that England 
never, perhaps, had a more firm, brave, and religious king. 

In the first acts of his reign he showed a gener- 
ous spirit towards those whom his father had re- ^ s 1 f t | :ener " 
garded with dread and jealousy. The legal heir to 
the throne, the young Mortimer, had always been a thorn in 
the side of Henry IV., as Harry Hotspur very well knew. 

" He said he would not ransom Mortimer; 
Forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer; 
But I will find him when he lies asleep, 
And in his ear I '11 holla ' Mortimer; ' 
Nay, I '11 have a starling shall be taught to speak 
Nothing but Mortimer, and give it him 
To keep his anger still in motion." 

Henry IV. had kept Mortimer in honorable but real cap- 
tivity. He was now a grown young man, and one of the 
new king's first acts was to set him at liberty, and show him 
friendship. Perhaps his long imprisonment and good edu- 
cation had made a philosopher of him, for, though released 
from captivity, he never seems to have wished to be king, 
but remained a faithful friend to Henry all his life. Never- 

321 



322 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

theless, the descendants of the Mortimers came to the throne 
at last. 

Henry was also generous to his old enemies the Percys, 
who had been so thoroughly defeated by himself and his 
father. Harry Hotspur's son was restored to his title and 
estates as Earl of Northumberland, and the Percys did not 
forget this generosity. 

Henry even took some steps towards releasing the king 
of Scotland, whom his father had imprisoned, but they came 
to nothing. The Scotch perhaps hardly wanted him back, as 
they were in a most disorderly condition, and the young king, 
if he were already in love with the beautiful English lady, 
might not be very anxious to return. However that might 
be, it appears that he and Henry were very good friends, 
and we find him afterwards helping Henry in his wars, and 
following him to his grave as chief mourner. 

The young king also released many other prisoners and 
published a general pardon. Having thus done all he could 
in justice and generosity to the living, he proceeded to do 
what was possible to honor the dead. He appears to have 
retained some affection for Richard II., and felt great remorse 
for his wretched death. Richard had been buried privately 
in the country. His body was now brought to London and 
honorably buried in Westminster Abbey, in a very stately 
tomb which he had made for himself "while he was still 
living. There we may see his effigy now lying hand in hand 
with that of his wife, Anne of Bohemia, whom he so tenderly 
loved. 

Henry was also extremely religious, though unhappily he 

entirely threw himself into the cause of the Church, as 

against the followers of "VVyclif. We saw how 

Son" 1 *" Henry IV. sullied his renown by the statute for 

burning heretics. His son carried out the same 

system, "verily believing that he was doing God service." 

Persecution had not destroyed the Lollards ; there were 
still a great many of them in the country. It was at this 
time that the Archbishop of Canterbury made some additions 
to his palace at Lambeth, and imprisoned so many of the 
poor followers of Wyclif in a part of the new buildings that 
it has ever since been called the Lollards' Tower. 

At the head of these persecuted men was a nobleman who 
had formerly been a friend of the king's, Sir John Oldcastle, 
or, as he was afterwards called in right of his wife, Lord 



THE CONQUEST OF FRANCE. 323 

Cobham. Being a rich and powerful man, he was able to 
help and protect the teachers of the Lollards, and 
the archbishop accordingly made an attack upon j^rdsand 
him. It was now believed that the Lollards were Lord Cob- 
not only heretics in religion, but also traitors and 
rebels against the government. It had already been charged 
against them that they had helped the peasants in the revolt 
under Wat Tyler, and they were now accused of being dis- 
affected and ready to rebel if they could. Possibly this 
might be true about some of them, and was not much to be 
wondered at, as the poor had still many grievances and much 
injustice to endure ; but it has never been shown that they 
did anything wrong. 

Lord Cobham was in the first instance charged with heresy, 
— with denying the doctrine of transubstantiation, and say- 
ing that the Pope was Antichrist. He stood very gallantly 
to his principles, and was condemned to be burned, but con- 
trived to escape. Some time after this a report was raised 
that he had summoned the Lollards to meet him in great 
numbers near London, for the purpose of seizing on the king 
and his brothers, Avhb were spending the Christmas together 
at one of the royal palaces at Eltham. 

The king heard of the plot, and was quite ready to believe 
it. He was told that twenty-five thousand rebels would 
assemble in the fields north of London, at St. Giles's; at that 
time it was a rural neighborhood quite out of London. 
London was a compact city shut in with walls and gates. 
There were Bishops Gate, Alders Gate, Lud Gate, and many 
others of which only the name still remains. The king- 
ordered all the gates to be closed, and then posted armed 
men round about those fields and rode there himself. But 
no crowd appeared, only about eighty men with no leader of 
any importance. Lord Cobham was not heard of, and no 
one knows to this day whether he and the others had in- 
tended to come at all. Perhaps they were kept away by 
hearing of the king's armed men ; perhaps no such con- 
spiracy had ever existed. 

Thirty-nine of the unfortunate eighty were either hanged 
or burned; those who were considered traitors were hanged, 
and the heretics were burned. Lord Cobham was not cap- 
tured for four years; but at last he was found in Wales, 
brought to London, and, being looked on as both traitor and 
heretic, he was burned as well as well as hanged. " His last 



324 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

words, drowned by the crackling flames, were praise of God. 
The people wept and prayed with him ; they heard in silence 
the declarations of the priests that Cobham died an enemy 
of God, and a heretic to the Church." But for the time the 
Lollards were put down, and forced to hide their opinions 
and avoid observation as much as they could. 

The Church had a triumph in maintaining the form of 
doctrine ; but there was another great danger threatening 
The wealth ner " ^ ne Church was enormously rich. It had been 
of the so long looked on as a mark of piety and means of 
Church, salvation to give lands and money to the Church, 
that by this time a very large part of the country was in the 
hands of the clergy. For example, the Abbey of Westmin- 
ster alone had vast possessions, not only in Westminster, but 
in other places far and near. It had its orchard where Orch- 
ard Street is now, its pastures and gardens at Long Acre and 
Covent (Couvent or Convent) Garden. It owned lands 
scattered abroad through ninety-seven towns and villages, 
seventeen hamlets, and two hundred and sixteen manors. 

Even before Henry IV. died the House of Commons had 
begun to make calculations as to the quantity of land pos- 
sessed by the Church, It was said that its property was so 
great that it would suflice to maintain fifteen earls, fifteen 
hundred knights, and more than six thousand fighting men, 
and the House advised the king to take possession of it. 
Henry IV. had not followed this advice, but now that he 
was dead it began to lie talked of again. The Church poten- 
tates Mere in alarm, and in the very beginning of Shake- 
speare's play of Henry Y. we find the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury and the Bishop of Ely considering what they had 
better do to save their riches. 

They had plenty of worldly wisdom and they knew their 
man well. Henry, with his high, brave, religious enthu- 
siasm, had no wish to rob the Church, but with his whole 
soul he longed for glorious adventures. Though there were 
sometimes truces, the Hundred Years' War was not over yet, 
and France was still unconquered. The shrewd 
wUh War churchmen saw that if they could turn his eyes and 
France re- thoughts that way they would be safe. His father, 
newe ' too, who had had so much trouble with the turbu- 
lent nobles, had advised Henry, as the only way of keeping 
them from raising disturbances at home, to lead them to for- 
eign wars. 



THE CONQUEST OF PRANCE. 325 

Shakespeare represents him as saying, — 

"By Jove, I am not covetous for gold, 
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost ; 
It yearns me not if men my garments wear ; 
Such outward things dwell not in my desires : 
But if it be a sin to covet honor, 
I am the most offendiug soul alive." 

He was only too willing to listen to the advice that he 
should go to war again. The clergy promised him large 
sums of money to help his army, the English people rejoiced 
at the thought of gaining more victories and more spoils, 
and the condition of France was such as to give him every 
hope of success. 

It is impossible to describe how miserable that country 
was at this time. The king, Charles, was insane ; the dau- 
phin, his eldest son, was selfish and wicked ; and 
his other near relations, who ought to have tried to | tate of 
supply his place, were always quarrelling fiercely 
among themselves. The principal of these were the Dnke 
of Burgundy and the Duke of Orleans, who hated each other 
most furiously. The Duke of Burgundy had caused the 
former Duke of Orleans (father of the present one) to be 
murdered in the streets of Paris. His party were called the 
Burgundians, and the party of the Duke of Orleans were 
called after his father-in-law, who was abler than he, the 
Armagnacs. The Burgundians were inclined to be friendly 
with England. The people of Paris were divided between 
the two parties ; the lower classes, and especially the butch- 
ers, sided with the Duke of Burgundy. Murders and up- 
roars were common, and the miserable country w T as turned 
almost into a desert, as if an enemy's army had ravaged it. 

This gave a grand opportunity to the English. Henry 
said, probably with sincerity, that he was called by God to 
punish the wickedness and vices of the land, and to restore 
it to peace and order. When our own wishes lie very 
strongly in one direction, it is not very hard to persuade 
ourselves that God's will lies that way too. 

Henry was for no half measures ; he revived Edward III.'s 
claim to be king of France. If that had been an unreason- 
able claim on the part of Edward, for Henry V. it was quite 
preposterous, because he himself was not the lawful heir to 
Edward. The English Parliament had accepted Henry IV. 
as king of England, though he was not the direct successor, 



326 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

but the English Parliament could never make him king of 
France. If Edward had any real right, that right must now 
have descended to Mortimer; though, as he does not seem 
.to have wished to be king of England, still less was he likely 
to wish to be king of France. 

Henry, however, now claimed the throne of France, and 
wished to marry the French king's daughter. Some nego- 
tiations were set on foot, but they led to nothing, 
of York USe an( l tne war began again. Just before Henry start- 
and the ec ] trouble arose in England. Though it lasted but 
'a short time, and was speedily ended, it must not 
be passed over, because in it we see how "coming events 
cast their shadows before; " the "coming events" being the 
Wars of the Roses, the great struggle between the two fami- 
lies of York and Lancaster, which was soon to begin. The 
Duke of York, being a younger son of Edward III. than 
John of Gaunt, had still less claim to the throne than the 
Lancasters, but his descendants had now made themselves 
stronger by the heir of the family, Richard, Earl of Cam- 
bridge, marrying a lady of the House of Mortimer, sister to 
the Mortimer who has been mentioned so often. This Earl 
of Cambridge now conspired against King Henry with some 
other nobles, intending to make his brother-in-law king. 
The plot was discovered, and the conspirators put to death ; 
but Richard of York and Anne Mortimer had a son who did 
not forget his great descent, and who made a figure in his- 
tory. 

Henry, with a well-appointed army, sailed to France, and 
laid siege to the town of Harfleur, at the mouth of the Seine. 
Henry ^ n ^ anc ^ n » m France he gave the most strict or- 
invades ders that the peaceable inhabitants of the country 
France, should be well treated. They were not to be in- 
jured in any way, and this order he constantly adhered to. 
Even when his army was in most need he permitted nothing 
to be taken from the country people which was not paid for, 
thus treating them far better than their own cruel and selfish 
princes did. 

After five weeks Harfleur was taken, but during that time 
the English army had suffered so much from disease that it 
had dwindled down to a very small number. Henry, how- 
ever, did not choose to return to England after taking only 
one town ; he determined to march through Normandy and 
Picardy to Calais. He had to pass the liver iomine, but on 



THE CONQUEST OF PRANCE. o"27 

the other side of this river was the great French army, 
which tried to hinder his crossing. At last, however, the 
English got over, and the two armies confronted each other. 
The French army was quite six times as large as the Eng- 
lish, and it included great numbers of those proud and 
wicked princes and nobles who made their country so miser- 
able. The English found the country through which they 
marched was almost a desert, and before they met the enemy 
they were half starved and in a most wretched plight. 

The great battle of Agincourt has been grandly described 
by Shakespeare. The night before the light the French 
were full of boasting, and vainglorious confidence ; 14ig 
they were so sure of the victory, and of taking Battle of 
Henry prisoner, that they had sent to him before- Agincourt ' 
hand about fixing his ransom. And the princes and lords 
were longing for morning, that they might fall on the poor, 
sick, starving English. "Alas! poor Harry of England," 
says one of them, " he longs not for the dawning as we do." 

" The poor condemned English, 
Like sacrifices, by their watchful fires 
Sit patiently, and inly ruminate 
The morning's danger; and their gesture sad, 
Investing lank-lean cheeks and war-worn coats, 
Presenteth them unto the gazing moon 
So many horrid ghosts." 

The English army had not nearly so many noblemen as 
the French ; but it had a great many of those stout archers 
so often mentioned. The French nobles would hardly admit 
any of the lower ranks into their own hosts ; they said France 
should be defended by gentlemen only. 

The great French army was crowded between two thick 
woods and among newly-ploughed fields. It was in autumn, 
and the ground was soaked and muddy. The heavy-armed 
men and heavy-armed horses straggled and floundered about. 
The English archers, on foot, and lightly clad, were as nimble 
as deer. Each of them, beside his good bow, had an axe or 
a mace, and a sharp stake tipped with iron, which he was 
to plant in the ground before him. It was like Crecy over 
again. As the proud French knights, who scorned the Eng- 
lish archers, came riding tip, the arrows flew among them 
like hail ; they could not get to close quarters with the 
archers because of the palisade of sharp stakes. The horses 
sank knee-deep in the soft ground. At last the archers, 



328 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

flinging aside their bows, sprang out from behind the pali- 
sade, and began to ply their battle-axes, and with such force 
that an old chronicler says " it seemed as though they were 
hammering on anvils." 

King Henry fought like a lion. When he had ridden 
among his men to cheer them up before the battle, he had 
worn above his helmet a golden crown glittering with jewels. 
One of the French princes with a great blow shattered the 
crown, but the good helmet sheltered bis head — the very 
helmet which may still be seen above his tomb in Westmin- 
ster Abbey, dinted with the sword-marks of that French 
prince. The French nobles fought bravely too, but their 
bravery was of no avail ; there was no discipline, no rule ; 
they were all too proud to obey orders, and tbey were slain 
in crowds. 

Towards the end of the tight, when the English Avere mak- 
ing a great many prisoners, a terrible mistake occurred. A 
loud noise was heard in the rear of the French, and those 
who were retreating seemed to be rallying again. Henry sup- 
posed that reinforcements had arrived, and gave orders that 
all the prisoners should be put to death ; " for which act," 
says Baker, " though done in cold blood, yet the king could 
not justly be taxed with cruelty, seeing the number of pris- 
oners was more than his own soldiers, and nothing could give 
assurance of safety but their slaughter." It was soon found, 
however, that the noise was caused by some peasants coming 
to ])1 under, and Henry at once put an end to the massacre. 

The great battle was won ; it was a splendid victory, and 
raised the fame and spirit of the English higher than ever, 
though no other great result followed from it. Henry, with 
his grave, religious spirit, gave all the glory to God, and for- 
bade any one of his army to boast of his brave deeds, " or 
take that praise from God which is His only."' 

The slaughter of the French nobility and gentry in this 
fight was terrible. Besides many royal princes and great 
noblemen, nearly eight thousand men of gentle blood were 
killed. Many others, among them the Duke of Orleans, 
were made prisoners. Henry was kind and courteous to the 
duke ; he went himself to console him and bid him be of 
good cheer, saying, " If God has given me grace to win this 
victory, I acknowledge that it is through no merit of my 
own ; " but he added, " I believe that God has willed that 
the French should be punished, and if what I have heard be 



THE CONQUEST OF FRANCE. S29 

true, no wonder at it ; for they tell me that never were seen 
such disorder, such a license of wickedness, such debauchery, 
such vices as now reign in France. It is pitiful and horrible 
to hear it all ; and, certes, the wrath of the Lord must have 
been awakened." 

Henry was obliged to return to England, for he was in 
want both of men and money. The English people wel- 
comed him with exultation ; when his ship arrrived at Dover 
they rushed into the sea to meet their hero, and carried him 
to the shore on their shoulders. At every town on the road 
they poured out in thousands to see him and do him honor. 
He did not pass Canterbury without visiting Becket's shrine, 
and making offerings there. When he arrived at Blackheath 
half London came forth to meet him, headed by the lords 
and commons, the clergy, the mayor, and the aldermen. 
Never was there such triumph and joy. But he still gave 
all the glory to God, — 

" Being free from vainness and self-glorious pride ;" 

and a grand service was held in Westminster Abbey to 
render thanks for the victory. 

The beautiful abbey which Henry III. had begun was still 
unfinished. Indeed, for the last hundred years it had 
scarcely been touched ; but Henry V., in the midst yy est . 
of all his wars and campaigns, found time to care minster 
for it. He gave orders that the works should go Abbe y- 
on, and in his days the stately nave, as we now see it, was 
nearly finished. The architect was no other than Richard 
Whittington, "Lord Mayor of London town." 

Though Henry had gained the battle of Agincourt, he 
was still as far as ever from being king of France. It was 
not long before he invaded the country again, and 
resolutely began the conquest of Normandy. He conquest 
tried to make the Normans remember how nearly he of Nor- 
and they were related, and that he and his nobles mandy - 
were descended from Norman forefathers ; he talked to them 
about the Northmen, who were the ancestors of both. But 
it was to no purpose. The Northmen in England were 
Englishmen now, and the Northmen in France, Frenchmen. 
They were enemies, not friends. Every part of Normandy 
that he conquered Henry treated well ; indeed, the people 
had not been so peaceable and so safe for a long time, but 
still they could not bear to be governed by a foreigner. 



330 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

After taking a groat many places in Normandy, Henry at 
last besieged its capital, Rouen, a large and beautiful city, 

1418. which made a valorous defence. The French held 
Siege of out obstinately, till they were almost starving, and 
ouen. H enr y might not have succeeded, had it not been 
for the dissensions and civil wars of the French nation itself. 
The armies that ought to have come to the relief of Rouen 
were employed in fighting one another, and at last Henry 
gained possession of the city, but not till the garrison had 
eaten their horses and dogs, and many thousands had died 
of hunger and disease. 

When the French found that Rouen was lost, and all 
Normandy in the power of the English, it seemed as if the 
quarrels and discords among themselves must cease, and that 
they would all join against the invaders. There was some 
attempt at making peace with the English, and Henry again 
demanded the hand of the French princess, but it came to 
nothing as yet. The Duke of Burgundy, who had hitherto 
somewhat favored England, now appeared to forsake the 
English cause, and made a kind of peace with the Dauphin. 
The treacherous Dauphin contrived to get the Duke of Bur- 
gundy into his power. They had agreed to meet in the 
middle of a bridge at Montereau, between strong barricades, 
each of them attended by only ten men. The Dauphin and 
his followers had sworn the most solemn oaths that no evil 
should befall the duke. Nevertheless, no sooner was he 
within the empty space, and shut off from the rest of his 
people, than one of the Dauphin's men struck him a deadly 
blow with an axe ; the rest then set on him and murdered 
him, killing some and imprisoning others of his ten men. 

This horrible murder put an end to the hopes of France. 
The murdered duke's son, who succeeded to his father's 
great titles, power, and possessions, cast off all thought of 
peace with the Dauphin, took part with Henry and the Eng- 
lish at once, and there was no one left to resist. The poor 
insane king (who had intervals of reason sometimes) and 
the queen were much under the influence of the Duke of 
Burgundy; besides which, the queen hated her son, the 
Dauphin, and loved her daughter Katherine, the princess 

1420 whom Henry wished to marry. Now, therefore, a 
Treaty of peace was really made, which is called the Treaty 
Troyes. Q £ -proyes. The fair young princess was given to 
Henry at last, and they were married in one of the beautiful 



THE CONQUEST OF FRANCE. 381 

churches of that city. Henry was declared regent of France 
as long as the king lived, and when he died Henry was to be 
king of France in his stead. 

Once more he returned to England, with the beautiful 
French princess by his side. Once more he was received 
with enthusiastic joy and triumph. The new queen was 
crowned in Westminster Abbey, and by and by a son 
was born to him, who was to inherit his glories. The 
young warrior, so noble, so famous, beloved and honored 
king of England, soon to be king of France also, and, as he 
hoped, to restore order, religion, and peace to that fair but 
unhappy country ; with a wife whom he loved, and a son to 
bear his name. He was but thirty-three years old ; and now, 
all unexpectedly, the end came. 

He had returned to France, where there was still fighting 
and resistance, for it could not be supposed that the Dau r 
phin was going to rest quietly under the loss of his ..„. 
kingdom. It was a very hot summer. Henry was Death of 
leading his army to support his allies in Burgundy, Henr y- 
when he was seized with sudden illness, and knew he was to 
die. He died as bravely as he had lived, and as piously. 
He gave the best advice to his brothers and counsellors, 
comforted them with kind and calm words, and charged 
them to be faithful to his wife and child. Then he desired 
the seven penitential Psalms to be read to him. When the 
reader came to the words in the fifty-first Psalm, " Build thou 
the walls of Jerusalem," Henry stopped him and said that 
he had always intended to go on a crusade and restore the 
Holy City, when once he had established peace and good 
order in France (as his father had also intended). Soon after, 
he exclaimed, "My part is with my Lord Jesus Christ." 
" Into Thy hands I commend my spirit, for Thou hast 
.redeemed it;" and so died. 

After his death three cities vied with each other for the 
honor of his burial — Paris, Rouen, and Westminstei*. But 
everybody knew how he had loved Westminster Abbey, and 
it was decided that he should be buried there. It was one 
of the grandest funerals that had been known in England. 
King James of Scotland, who had been with him in France, 
followed him to his grave as chief mourner. He had chosen 
the place for his tomb himself, just behind the shrine of 
Edward the Confessor. It is more than a tomb, it is a sep- 
arate little chapel, ornamented with sculpture and statues, 



332 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and built in the 'shape of his initial letter, H. His image 
was made of English oak, and covered with silver ; the head 
was of solid silver. All the silver is gone now ; but the 
oaken figure is still to be seen ; above it on a bar are his 
dinted helmet, his shield, ami his saddle. 

Thus this short glorious reign ended, like a dream, or like 
a tale that is told. The next reign, that of Henry's son, 
was long, inglorious, and melancholy. All Henry's great 
victories went for nothing ; all his work was undone. The 
English naturally feel pride in these foreign conquests, but 
Henry had no right to the French crown, and England had 
no right to govern France. It is not at all a matter of 
regret that all Henry's great conquests were lost, and his 
great hopes fell to the ground. 

It has been remarked before, as the English kings gradu- 
ally lost their possessions in France, that it was much for 
the interest of England that they did so. Had it ever come 
to pass that France and England had been governed by one 
king, even though that king had been an Englishman, there 
is no doubt that England, which is much the smaller of the 
two, and cut off by the sea from the rest of Europe, would 
have become a mere province of France. The king must- 
have principally lived in France, as Henry II. and Richard 
I. did ; and England would never have developed her own 
special character, or taken her own great place in the world. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

FRANCE RECOVERS. 

Henry VI. The Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester. Cardinal Beaufort. The 
Maid of Orleans. Coronation of Charles VII. of France. Death of the Maid. 

The young prince, son of Henry V. and Katherine of 
France, was only nine months old when his father died. 
The government would therefore naturally fall into 
the hands of his uncles, the last king's brothers. xl^y'v-i 
There were two of these, the Duke of Bedford and 
the Duke of Gloucester. The Duke of Bedford was the 
same as the young Prince John who fought in the battle of 
Shrewsbury, in the days of Henry IV., and of whom 
we read in Shakespeare's play. He seems to have isunces - 
been his father's favorite, and was now grown to be a very 
wise and capable man. His brother, Henry V., placed great 
confidence in him, and when he was dying appointed him to 
be regent of France, giving him much good advice as to how 
he was to proceed. The other brother, Humphrey, Duke of 
Gloucester, was a turbulent, ambitious, and selfish prince, 
who did a great deal of mischief as long as he lived. Though 
his brother Henry appointed him to be regent of England, he 
had warned him with his dying breath never to set his own 
selfish interests above those of his country ; and the English 
Parliament, perhaps knowing already the sort of man Glou- 
cester was, thought it better that England should be gov- 
erned by a council. Still he was called protector, and when 
his brother, the Duke of Bedford, was away in France, he 
naturally had a great deal of power and influence. He was 
liked by the people, and was called, one hardly knows why, 
the " Good Duke Humphrey." He certainly had one good 
point about him, which was that he liked books and litera- 
ture ; he collected a very beautiful library, and he used to 
invite foreign scholars to England and employ them to trans- 
late books for him. 

333 



334 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Though at this time there were no very brilliant English 
writers, like Chaucer or Langland, people were growing 
more and more fond of reading. All books were still in 
manuscript, and about this period it is said that there is a 
great change in the appearance of these manuscripts. The 
old ones were very beautifully written ; the scribe, or writer, 
took his time ; the pages were often exquisitely ornamented, 
and every letter perfectly formed. There were not very 
many books then, nor, indeed, could there be, when they 
were produced at this rate. But now so many people wanted 
to read books that the scribes had to hurry more, and to get 
a great many more written. They began to write a sort of 
running band ; not half so beautiful to look at, and not 
always very easy to read; but by this means books grew 
more plentiful. "Duke Humphrey afterwards presented his 
fine library to the University of Oxford. 

Besides the two dukes, Henry V.'s brothers, there was 
another very powerful man, his uncle, Cardinal Beaufort, 
who was Bishop of Winchester. He was enor- 
Cardinal mously rich and ambitious. He and the Duke of 
Gloucester were continually striving for the mas- 
terv, and kept England in a constant* state of disquiet. The 
French historians give him a very bad character ; one of 
them calls him plainly " a Satan," though no longer " the old 
Satan, shameful and outcast, but a Satan who is acknowl- 
edged, decent, respectable, and rich ; sitting on a bishop's 
throne." 

Almost directly after the death of Henry V. the unfortu- 
nate king of France died also. The treaty of Troyes had 
provided" that, when he died, Henry V. was to succeed him 
as king of France. But as Henry was already dead, the 
right, such as it was, descended to his little son, who was 
accordingly called king of France. How things might have 
turned out had Henry V. lived we cannot tell, but it is 
probable, even then, the Dauphin would have made some 
resistance. As it was, he at once came forward with his 
The French partisans, and declared himself king of France, 
war breaks under the name of Charles VII. And though the 
out afresh. ^ rea ^y f Troyes bad been called "the perpetual 
peace," the war broke out again. 

The Scotch were, as usual, allies of the French. Although 
their king had been a prisoner, and in Henry V.'s power, 
they had fought on the French side even during his reign, 



FRANCE RECOVERS. 335 

and some of the Scotch nobles had received great titles and 
honors in France. The Scotch, indeed, were so brave and 
so accustomed to fighting the English that it began to be said 
"they were the only antidotes to the English," and the 
French were glad to have as many Scotch soldiers as possi- 
ble in their armies. To put a stop to this, the Duke of Bed- 
ford at last decided to set the king of Scotland free, on his 
paying a ransom and promising to keep peace towards Eng- 
land. So, after nearly nineteen years' absence from his 
country, King James Stuart and his English wife went to 
Scotland, where he did his best to keep his promise, though 
he could not always hinder his unruly subjects from fighting 
the English. 

The Duke of Bedford had no easy task. The most im- 
portant piece of advice his brother Henry had given him, 
respecting the affairs of France, was to keep friendship with 
the Duke of Burgundy. He had always endeavored to do 
this, and had, indeed, married the sister of the duke; but 
his brother, the Duke of Gloucester, gave great offence to 
the Duke of Burgundy by marrying a very rich lady, who 
was already married to a cousin of his own, and whose heir 
he hoped to be himself.* After this it cost the Duke of Bed- 
ford a great deal of trouble to maintain the alliance with 
Burgundy. 

On the whole, however, the English still kept the upper 
hand in France. There was another battle and victory at 
Verneuil, which was thought almost as great as Agincourt. 
The Dauphin had very little power in any part of 1429 
France, except south of the river Loire. The Eng- The siege 
lish longed to press beyond this river; but before ns ' 

they could venture to do that they must get possession of 
Orleans, a strong and important city which was built upon 
it. And now commenced one of the most famous sieges in 
history, and one of the most romantic stories. 

The English were not numerous enough to surround this 
city entirely ; but they built a number of strong forts called 
"bastilles" around it, which could overlook and protect the 

* Jacqueline, Countess of Hainault of Holland, had been, for motives 
of state policy, married to John of Brabant, a sickly youth fifteen years 
of age. She left him in disgust and escaped to England, where the 
Duke of Gloucester, having seen and admired her, took her as his wife 
without waiting for the Pope's dispensation to annul her former mar- 
riage. 



336 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

blank places intervening. Some of the most famous war- 
riors of England gathered round the city; the head of all 
was Lord Salisbury ; the bravest perhaps was Talbot. As 
the siege went on, Salisbury was killed ; but little by little 
the English were gaining. They were finishing their fortifi- 
cations, and it seemed that very soon they would enclose the 
whole city, so that no aid and no food could be brought in. 
Then it would most likely have the experience of Rouen 
over again ; and if Orleans fell, the English would become 
masters of the south of France, as they already were of the 
north. 

A French army under the Count de Clermont was sent to 
relieve the city, and to cut off the supplies of the English, 
so as to turn the tables against them, and starve them out if 
possible. The Duke of Bedford, on his part, was sending 
supplies to the English camp, — both artillery and food. The 
food was principally fish, as it was now Lent, and no one 
dared to eat meat. Of course there were troops to protect the 
wagons of provisions. Clermont's army, which was coming 
to help Orleans, fell upon this company of English, and a 
fight took place, in which the French and their Scotch allies 
were defeated and driven off. This little fight was called 
the Battle of the Herrings ; they say there were more her- 
rings strewed about the Held than there were dead soldiers. 

Though it did not sound very serious, the defeat caused 
great discouragement in the city. Almost all the leaders 
went away in despair; the Count de Clermont and 
agement his army made no more attempts to rescue Orleans, 
of the All the great men who were in the city left it 
French. w jjjj e t j iey C01UC 1 still escape; the Admiral of 
France, the chancellor, even the archbishop and the bishop, 
" thinking it a pity that such eminent men should be taken 
by the English," says the French historian. Everything 
seemed to show that the city would soon fall, and with it all 
the hopes of France. 

We have seen the terrible condition in which France was. 
Henry V. had believed that he Avas commissioned by God to 
punish its vices, and restore religion, order, and justice. 
But though he had Avon great victories, he had not made 
the people better or happier. Wherever one looked, there 
Avas nothing but cruelty and violence, robbery and starva- 
tion. All the princes, who ought to have protected and 
guided the people, led the armies, and driven away the 



FKANCE RECOVERS. 337 

foreign invaders, were selfish, half-hearted, or treacherous. 
Some had taken the part of the English, and fought against 
their own king ; others, when they saw danger, fied away, 
leaving the helpless and poor to suffer as they could. All 
were envious of each other ; and even those who Avere brave 
would not act together, or submit to any order or authority. 
The only hope for them would have been that some brave, 
great leader, a king of men, like Henry V., whom all must 
have honored and obeyed, could have stood forth, won their 
trust, and brought order and discipline, confidence and en- 
thusiasm, into those disheartened troops. 

And where was such a leader to be found ? It was not 
the king, nor a prince, nor one of the nobles of France ; but 
a poor girl, who could neither read nor write, who 
knew nothing but how to spin and sew, who had T wL? ew 
nothing but her own pure heart, — it was she who 
saved her country, which none else could save. There is no 
story in the history of the world more romantic and beau- 
tiful than the story of the Maid of Orleans. 

She was born in a wild and woody country on the borders 
of Lorraine and Champagne. Her father, Jacques 
Dare, was a poor laborer. His little daughter Joan Jeanne 
or Jeanne was brought up like any other French 
peasant's child ; but before we can understand either the 
maiden or her story, we must try to realize, if we can, the 
world she lived in, and how different it was from our world. 
When she was taken to the little country church on Sundays 
and holidays, she would doubtless see on the walls the images 
of crowned saints and angels, of Christ and the Virgin Mary. 
They might be very roughly painted, but to the poor village 
people they would seem beautiful and glorious ; nor would 
they be looked on as mere pictures. Jeanne and all the 
others in the church thought they were actually like the real 
saints and angels in heaven, and would kneel and pray be- 
fore them without a moment's doubt that they would' hear 
and answer. If the world seemed cold and bleak, the poor 
cottages rude and bare, and men were rough and miserable, 
they would like to think of the happy, golden world, where 
their friends the saints sat in glory, with a kind thought of 
pity for them and their troubles. 

But when she walked in the great oak forests near her 
home she would have a visionary world about her there too. 
Where we should only see trees and streams, and grass and 



338 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTOKY. 

flowers, and might half fancy from their beauty and bright- 
ness that they must be alive and happy in a way of their 
own, everybody then thought that there were fairies and 
wood-spirits. In England it was believed that the elves and 
fairies had been driven away by priests and friars, and that 
that was the reason they could no longer be seen, as they 
used to be, dancing in the green meadows. In the forests 
where Jeanne lived the priest used to drive the fairies away 
too; he came to say a mass every year beside their favorite 
fountain, and under a great tree, on which the children would 
hang garlands to please the "ladies," as they called them. 
The priests, as well as the people) believed in the fairies, 
but as the tales of them had come down from the old 
heathen times, they considered them unchristian, and that 
they ought to be banished. 

Thus these people did really and truly seem to live in two 
worlds, the visible and the invisible ; and though the com- 
monplace, the busy, and the dull would half forget the in- 
visible world, the gentle, and quiet, and thoughtful ones 
would live in it more than in the visible. Jeanne, besides 
being a good and pious girl, was full of poetry and imagina- 
tion ; when she was not sewing and spinning by her mother's 
side she loved dearly to go and pray in the quiet church 
where the saints were, or to wander in the woods, feeding 
the wild birds and listening to the church bells.* 

As she was growing up, this peaceful, visionary life was 
disturbed by the same miseries which disturbed the rest of 
the country. Sometimes poor fugitives who had been driven 
out of their homes by the war came through the village ; 
sometimes her own neighbors had to flee, and when they 
came back would find evei-ything destroyed or burned. 
Thus she began to think about the war and her unhappy 
country, and her whole heart was filled with pity and sor- 
row. She did what she could to help the sufferers ; when 
the poor refugees came by, she gave them up her own bed 
and went to sleep in the barn. She prayed and fasted ; and 
as she brooded over these sad things, and longed to do more, 
she seemed to be lifted out of hei-self and the little 
visions w °rld about her. The saints seemed to come nearer 
to her ; she began to see bright lights and to hear 



* It is scarcely necessary to say that this detailed description of La 
Pueelle's interior life, though pleasing and probable, is arrived at by 
conjecture with very little historical evidence. — Ei>. 



FRANCE RECOVERS. 339 

strange voices which no one else could see or hear. From 
out of the bright light a noble figure with shining wings 
spoke, and told her it was she who was to help the king of 
France, and to give him back his kingdom. The poor girl 
was frightened ; she was now seventeen or eighteen years 
old ; she knew nothing about riding on horseback, or leading 
soldiers. But as time went on she saw more and more 
visions, heard more and more voices, all bidding her rise and 
rescue her country. 

No one believed her at first ; her father and mother were 
angry, and forbade her leaving home; they even tried to 
marry her to an honest man of the village. But the impulse 
was too strong; she felt that she must go. At last she per- 
suaded an old village wheelwright, her uncle, to take her to 
the nearest town, where she would find soldiers and a cap- 
tain, who would send her to the Dauphin. The captain was 
greatly puzzled when he saw this village girl arrive, and heard 
her say that the Lord had sent her to the aid of the Dauphin. 
Pie was quite ready to think there was something supernatu- 
ral in the matter, but he was by no means sure that it might 
not be a work of the devil instead of the saints ; for besides 
believing in the agency of saints and angels, every one be- 
lieved also quite as firmly in the power of evil spirits, wiz- 
ards, and Avitches ; and to the end of her life half the world 
believed that poor Jeanne Dare was a sorceress aided by the 
devil. The parish priest was sent for to sprinkle holy water, 
and to drive away the evil spirit if there was one. 

But Jeanne was so gentle, so modest, and so firm in declar- 
ing that she was sent by God that people began to believe in 
her. The captain decided he would send her to the king, or 
the Dauphin, as she called him, for he had not yet been 
crowned. She was dressed in armor, and five or six armed 
men were appointed to attend her. She stopped to pray at 
every church she passed, and at last she arrived safely at the 
French court. When she saw the king, whom she recog- 
nized at once among the crowd of courtiers, she knelt down 
before him, saying, "Gentle Dauphin, I am called Jeanne the 
Maid. The King of Heaven sends to tell you by me that 
you shall be consecrated and crowned in the city of Reims." 
It was in Reims Cathedral that all the kings of France were 
crowned, and the French people thought as much of that 
sacred city as the English did of Westminster Abbey. 

Whether Charles believed in her Divine inspiration or not, 



340 GUEST" S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

it seemed that there Avas no other way of saving Orleans, 
and that this last desperate chance had better be tried. But 
first the inquiry was made once more whether she might not 
be influenced by the devil, instead of by God. Four or five 
bishops examined her this time, but they could find nothing 
against her. When they desired that she would show a sign 
to prove that God had sent her, she said, " My sign will be 
to raise the siege of Orleans." Every one in the whole 
region declared that she was a saint ; the defenders of 
Orleans had heard that a miraculous virgin was coming to 
help them, and sent earnestly entreating for her aid. 

At last she was allowed to go. She rode forth fully clad 
in beautiful white armor, mounted on a splendid black horse, 
and bearing a sacred sword, called the sword of St. Kathe- 
rine, which it was said she had miraculously discovered in 
the church. Before her was carried a white standard, on 
which was the picture of God holding the world in his 
hands, and two angels, each with a lily-flower. 

It is easy to imagine what an effect this wonderful sight 
would produce both on friend and foe. The French people 
.roused up suddenly to hope and confidence. Here was this 
beautiful saint sent expressly by God, to lead them to 
victory; and if God were for them who could be against 
them? As she marched to Orleans, followed by her troop 
of soldiers, she had an altar set up in the open air, and they 
all received the sacrament. These soldiers, who would obey 
no one else, would have followed the Maid to the end of the 
world. 

The English, on the other hand, lost heart. They, too, 
believed Jeanne was miraculously inspired. If it were God 
fighting against them, what could they do? But in their 
hearts many of them thought she was a witch and led by the 
devil. This seemed more terrible still. They were ready 
enough to fight against Frenchmen whom they had beaten 
so often ; but how could they resist the spells of a sorceress ? 

When Jeanne led the French soldiers against the be- 
siegers, the English were terrified ; they began to see visions 
too. Sometimes they saw white butterflies fluttering 
The^maid around her sacred banner ; sometimes they saw the 
saves saints or Michael the Archangel among her troops. 
Or eans. r p^ e ^ Q ^ e Q £ Orleans had lasted seven months ; in 
ten days all the English forts were in the hands of the 
French, and the city was free. It was on a Sunday morning 



FRANCE RECOVERS. 341 

that the English retreated. The Maiden caused an altar to 
be raised in the plain, and before the enemy was well out of 
sight the rescued people were kneeling around it, giving 
God thanks. 

Thus Jeanne had given the sign she had promised, and 
Orleans was delivered. Then she turned to the great work 
she had at heart — the coronation of the Dauphin. It was a 
long journey to Reims, and a great part of the country 
through which they must pass was in the hands of the 
English or the Burgundians. But the French knew no fears 
now; they crowded around the Maid; always more and 
more of them followed her standard as she led the king to 
Reims. Wherever they went they were successful. They 
took one town after another — even Troyes, where c r n . 
Henry V. had been married; they defeated thetionofthe 
English in the battle of Patay ; at last they reached Dau P hin - 
Reims, and in its venerable cathedral Charles was anointed, 
crowned, and consecrated king of France. 

On that glorious day the Maiden felt that her work was 
done. She knelt, weeping, before the king, saying, " Oh, 
gentle king, the pleasure of the Lord is accomplished." She 
longed to go now to her humble cottage, to her brothers and 
her sister, who would be so rejoiced to see her return. But 
this was not to be the end. 

It was quite true that her work was done. In the eyes 
of all the people the consecration and holy anointing made 
Charles king in a way he had never been before. His rival, 
the young son of Henry V., the poor child who was still 
called king of France, was shut out. He had not even 
been crowned, except as king of England at Westminster. 
When he was brought to Paris afterwards to be crowned 
king of France the ceremony seemed a mere empty form. 
The true king had already been consecrated at Reims. 

Up to this time Jeanne had clearly known what she had 
to do, and the "voices" which she thought she heard had 
been clear and distinct. But now she had no such certainty, 
and the "voices" grew confused and contradictory. Some- 
times now, instead of success, there was failure in what she 
attempted, and the soldiers began to lose faith in her. At 
last, while endeavoring to defend a city which was besieged 
by the Burgundian party, she was taken prisoner. 

The rest of her history is a sad one, and disgraceful to all 
who were concerned in it, except to the Maid herself. She 



342 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was sold and bandied about from one to another, till the 
Th M d Duke of Burgundy gave her into the hands of the 
taken English at Rouen. Whether the Duke of Bedford 
prisoner. an( | t j ie regt bought her a sorceress or not, they at 
least knew that she had been their most successful enemy, 
and that they owed the ruin of their cause to her. She was 
charged with heresy and sorcery, and brought before a 
council of the inquisition. A French bishop was at the head 
of the tribunal, and other French churchmen took part in 
her trial and condemnation, but they were entirely under 
the influence of Cardinal Beaufort and the .English. 

The cowardly Dauphin whom she had made king never 
stirred a finger to help her. At last, after a long trial, in 
which every effort was made to induce her to confess that 
she had been instigated by the devil, and not by the saints, 
and in which she was persecuted, tormented, and terrified in 
every manner, she was declared guilty of heresy, handed 
over* to the civil power, and burned alive in the market-place 
of Rouen. With her dying breath she spoke in defence of 
the honor of her king; she bore testimony once 

« 1 ^ 31 ; l . more to the "voices" that God had sent her; and 
Her death. ... . ,. r n • i 

calling on the name of Jesus, and pressing a rough 

cross to her breast, she died — noble, pure, and saintlike as 

she had lived. 

In the play of Henry VI., Part I., we find a very coarse 

and false description of the Maid of Orleans, or La Pucelle, 

as she is called, which no doubt shows the common idea 

which the English had of her. It is some satisfaction to 

know that Shakespeare did not write that play, at least the 

larger and more offensive portions, though it generally goes 

under his name. 



CHAPTER XXXYI. 

LOSS OF FRANCE AND TROUBLES IN ENGLAND. 

End of the Hundred Years' war. Margaret of Anjou. Death of Gloucester and 
Suffolk. (Jade's revolt. The principal actors in the Wars of the Roses. 

The English did not profit by the cruel sacrifice of the 
Maid of Orleans. After her death their affairs in France 
went on as badly as possible ; there were no more famous 
battles or sieges ; both countries were nearly exhausted ; but 
the French gradually gained ground, and the Eng- 
lish lost. The Duke of Bedford seemed almost the f. ro | re n s n s ° f 

... . ... the French. 

only man who could accomplish anything either in 

England or France, and in his absence from either country 
everything there went wrong ; but at last he died, and all 
the prospects of the English in France died with him. The 
Duke of Burgundy, who was their most important and 
powerful ally, but who had begun to cool in his friendship 
of late, now at once did what was his plain duty, broke with 
the English and sided with his own country. 

Before, however, he would make peace with Charles, who, 
while he was Dauphin, had murdered the duke's father on 
the bridge of Montereau, he forced him to humble himself 
in the dust for that wicked act, and make what amends lie 
now could. He was obliged to say that at that time he was 
very young, and was guided by evil counsellors. He was to 
found a chapel and a convent, and to set up a stone cross in 
the middle of the bridge. The Dean of Paris, as represent- 
ing the king, was obliged to kneel down before the duke, 
praying for his mercy for the murder. The duke was then 
appeased, and the peace was made. 

After that union there was no more hope for the English, 

though they did not give in for a long time. There 

were two parties, — one of which wished to make E ar V„ e ^ in 
-I i i >n i t i i i England, 

peace, and to save what they still could ; the head 

of this party was Cardinal Beaufort, the Bishop of Win- 

343 



o44 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY, 

Chester ; the other were for fighting on, and trying to get all 
that they had hoped for in the victorious days of Henry V. 
The head of the war party was the proud, ambitious Duke 
of Gloucester. 

The young king, meanwhile, had grown to manhood, but 

he was very different from his father or any of his family. 

lie was very religious; indeed, after his death, he 

C F*\ ra ? ter was looked on as almost a saint ; but he was weak- 
oi the king. . , _. , . / .. . . 

minded, and at times quite imbecile (this was at- 
tributed to his descent from the mad king of France). Every 
writer gives just the same impression of him ; perhaps the 
best description is this, given by Baker: "lie was tall of 
stature, spare and slender of body, of a comely countenance, 
and all parts well proportioned. For endowments of mind, 
he had virtues enough to make him a saint, but not to make 
him a god, as kings are said to be gods. . . . He was not 
sensible of what the world calls honor, accounting the great- 
est honor to consist in humility. His greatest imperfection 
was that he had in him too much of the log and too little of 
the stork ; for he would not move but as he was moved, and 
had rather be devoured than he would devour. He was not 
so stupid not to know prosperity from adversity, but he was 
so devout to think nothing adversity which was not a hin- 
drance to devotion. He was fitter for a priest than a king ; 
for a sacrifice than a priest. He had one immunity peculiar 
to himself, that no man could ever be revenged on him, see- 
ing he never offered any man an injury. By being innocent 
as a dove he kept his crown upon his head so long, but if 
he had been wise as a serpent he might have kept it on 
longer." 

Henry was sure to be under the sway of some one of a 
stronger character than his own. For a long time every- 
thing was in the hands of the Duke of Gloucester or Car- 
dinal Beaufort. As the cardinal grew older, another man 
rose to power on his side, the Earl of Suffolk. He 

I h ff I i?' rlof thought that if the king of England were married 
Suffolk. », . . r p. 

to a .French princess it would go a great way 

towards making peace ; and he contrived to find a wife for 

him so exactly the reverse of himself in character, that in 

their after lives she was like the husband, and he the wife. 

She was the daughter of a French prince belonging to the 

family of Anjou, who had many high-sounding titles, being 

called the king of Sicily, Naples, and Jerusalem. But these 



TROUBLES IN ENGLAND. 345 

were empty names, and he was in reality the poorest and 
most unlucky of princes. He was in prison when 1445 
his daughter Margaret was born. She was now fit'- The king 
teen years old, and her father, though not in prison, Margaret 
was still very poor. The English had lost nearly all of Anjou. 
they had ever won in France, but part of Anjou and Maine 
still belonged to them. It was now settled that Henry 
should marry the Princess Margaret, and give over those 
provinces to her father in return. This marriage treaty was 
far from popular in England, especially with the war party. 
Instead of a grand alliance, and a bride who brought a dowry 
with her, such as the kings of England were accustomed to, 
here was a penniless bride, to whose father the English were 
to give up some of the most important parts of France which 
still remained to them. The Duke of Gloucester was furious, 
and the two parties hated each other more than ever. 

The new queen, whose character soon began to show itself, 
of course took part with Suffolk, who had made the match 
for her, and she looked on the Duke and Duchess of Glouces- 
ter as her enemies and rivals. This duchess was not the 
same whose marriage had so nearly caused a broil with the 
Duke of Burgundy some years before. The " good Duke 
Humphrey" seemed to have forgotten all about her, and had 
afterwards married an English lady, Eleanor Cobham. Un- 
til Henry VI. should marry and have a son, the next heir to 
the throne was the Duke of Gloucester, and his wife was the 
first lady in the land. Whether she affronted the young 
Queen Margaret, and taunted her with her poverty (as she 
is made to do in the play), or not, she was certainly The Ducll . 
an ambitious and unscrupulous woman, and was not ess of 
likely to look witli much favor on a marriage which Gloucester - 
took away her precedence, and would most probably destroy 
all hope of her husband ever rising to be king of England. 

It began to be rumored that she had taken counsel with 
witches and magicians, and that they had made a waxen 
image of the king, which being set before a slow fire, and 
gradually wasting away, the king's life would waste away 
with it. Every one was quite ready to believe it. The 
duchess and her confederates were seized, examined, and 
found guilty. The sorcerer and the witch were put to 
death ; the duchess was made to do public penance, walking- 
barefoot through the streets of London, carrying a taper, 
and pursued by the shouts and mockery of the mob. After 



34t! guest's englisb history. 

this she was sent into perpetual imprisonment in tbe Isle of 
Man, which was much more remote in the days before 

steam. 

Not long afterwards the duke himself was deprived of his 
offices and charged with high treason. It is impossible to 
make out what he had really done, or if he had done any- 
thing; but he was sent to prison, and then that happened to 
him which generally happened in those days to eminent peo- 
ple whose enemies contrived to imprison them. In a short 

1447. time it was made known that he was dead, just as 
Deaths of it had been with that other Duke of Gloucester, 
and Beau- who was put in prison at Calais in Richard II. 's 
fort. time. Xo one had much doubt that he had been 

murdered, and it was believed that Cardinal Beaufort and 
the Duke of Suffolk, if not the queen herself, were guilty 
of his death. About six weeks after, the cardinal himself 
died. Terrible stories were told about his death-bed, and 
that he was haunted by the ghost of his murdered nephew, 
though no one thought of the poor Maiden, whom his cruelty 
had doomed to a fearful death at Rouen. These stories, how- 
ever, though they show the popular feeling with regard to 
the duke and the cardinal, were not true in fact ; it appears 
that Beaufort died in a perfectly calm and decorous manner. 

But the death of the Duke of Gloucester settled nothing; 
a still 7nore dangerous person came to the front in his place 
— the Duke of York, the son of that conspirator 
of h York ke Richard who had been put to death at the begin- 
ning of Henry V.'s reign ; the descendant of those 
Mortimers who had been always standing like dark shadows 
behind the throne of the Lancaster princes. Probably the 
claims of the Mortimers would never have been heard of 
again if Henry VI. had been like his father and grandfather. 
But he being so weak and helpless, and the country so di- 
vided and discontented, there was an opening for an ambi- 
tious prince. The Duke of York, however, made no sign 
of aiming to become more than the head of the party which 
opposed the queen and the peace with France. For a long 
time his principal rival was the Duke of Somerset, who was 
a relation of Cardinal Beaufort, and, like him, descended 
from John of Gaunt. 

English affairs in France were going from bad to worse ; 
most of the blame was laid on the Duke of Suffolk, and his 
turn came to be charged with high treason. He was trying 




4 LCV/ti EK6.C6.B t /' t '» 



France during the French Wars. 



TROUBLES VS EM .LAND. 347 

to escape to Calais when he was captured by an English 
ship and murdered. The murderers were never pur- 
sued, and it seemed likely they were set on by some su^ k of 
powerful man, who did not choose to appear — per- 
haps by the Duke of York. The people were still enraged 
at the reverses in France. The Bishop of Chichester, who 
had helped Suffolk in bringing in Margaret of Anjou, and 
in giving away the French provinces, was torn to pieces by 
the mob, but that did not get the provinces back. 

At last the long war — the Hundred Years' War — seemed 
to wear itself out. The end of it was that, after all the 

fighting, all the fdory, all the misery, England lost 

~ i i, if i i • -c End of the 

every meh she had ever possessed m i ranee, ex- Hundred 

cept the town of Calais, and that she lost a hun- ^ ars ' 
dred years later. How little did Edward III. and 
the Black Prince, when they fought the battle of Crecy, 
foresee the end of it all ! 

Nor were matters any better in England ; there was deep 
and general discontent. Soon after Suffolk's death the men 
of Kent rose in rebellion, somewhat like Wat Ty- 
ler's revolt, though it differed from it in some ways. Rising of 
The head of this revolt was an Irishman, n^i" c 'd:^|| k th g a(ie 
Jack Cade ; but he called himself by the more dig- men of 
nifieel name of Mortimer, and it Avas believed hy Kent - 
some people that the Duke of York secretly encouraged him. 
Twenty thousand Kentish men, with Jack Cade at their head, 
met on Blackheath, and set forth their complaints. We may 
compare these complaints with those of Wat Tyler seventy 
years before. 

At that time the principal grievance was that all the poor 
people were " villeins," or serfs, and they demanded to have 
their freedom, and to be paid wages for their work. King- 
Richard had at first promised this, but afterwards his prom- 
ise was broken, and the rich men declared they would by no 
means part with their villeins. So we might have expected 
that, now r they were rising again, we should hear the same 
complaints. But there is not a word about villeinage, or 
slavery, — that had all passed away; everybody was free. 
Though Wat Tyler, John Ball, and so many others had been 
put to death, their revolt had borne its fruits, — villeinage 
had been done away with forever. 

The most important of the things they demanded was, 
that when members of Parliament were to be elected, the 



348 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOKY. 

people should be allowed freedom to vote according to their 
opinions ; for at this time they were greatly hampered in 
exercising this right. It had been decreed that no one should 
be chosen as a knight of the shire, or county member, who 
was not a gentleman born ; and the poorer voters received 
orders from the great men whom they were to vote for, 
whether they liked him or not. 

No doubt Jack Cade and his men were quite right in de- 
manding perfect liberty in this respect, but it may be sup- 
posed they could not be very badly off in worldly affairs; 
they must have had plenty to eat and drink and wear, if 
they had time to care about votes, and members of Parlia- 
ment, and public matters. 

However, the government sent an army against them ; 
and after they had put forth papers, on which their com- 
plaints were written, the revolters went back from Black- 
heath to Seven Oaks, where they fought the king's army, 
defeated it, and then inarched up again to London. They 
passed through the streets without resistance till they came 
to London Stone, the stone which had been set up by the 
Romans fourteen hundred years before, as the first mile- 
stone from which they measured their roads. Jack Cade 
struck the old stone with his sword, and declared he was 
"lord of the city." 

The revolt went on much as Wat Tyler's had done ; the 
mob behaved very well at first, and the London people made 
no opposition, but rather took their part. They seized on 
an unpopular minister, Lord Say, and after a sort of trial 
before the Lord Mayor they put him to death. But by and 
by the revolters began plundering and pillaging ; the Lon- 
doners took fright, and when the insurgents retired 
Death of to Southwark for the night the citizens broke down 
the bridge between them, and would not let them 
come back. Cade and his followers were deceived by a 
false promise of pardon, and dispersed ; Cade was pursued 
and put to death. 

But of course that did not put an end to the discontent. 
The Parliament hardly ever met, and money was raised 
without its consent, and without redressing public griev- 
ances. So that now, in this disturbed condition of affairs, 
the Duke of York saw his opportunity of coming forward 
more openly as a claimant of the crown. He began by 
attacking the Duke of Somerset, who was on the queen's 



TROUBLES IN ENGLAND. 349 

side, and was a relation of the Lancastrian family, being 
descended from John of Gaunt. It was about this time 
that the Red and the White Roses became em- R e( j anc i 
blems of the parties to the quarrel. The red roses White 
had long been the badge of the House of Lancas- Roses - 
ter; they had been first brought into Europe by the Crusa- 
ders from Palestine, and had been introduced into England 
two hundred years before this time by Edmund, the second 
son of Henry III., who was the first Duke of Lancaster. 
His beautiful tomb in Westminster Abbey is ornamented 
with roses carved in stone. 

But there were no gentle thoughts about roses when the 
fierce heads of each party drew their followers together, and 
prepared to rush at one another. We may read in the play 
how the one side twitted the other. One man says that the 
Red Rose blushed for shame at the evil deeds of Somerset ; 
another says the White Rose is pale for faint-heartedness and 
cowardliness. 

After a little delay on each side, during which time the 
king and queen had a son born to them, the war 1455 
broke out openly. The Wars of the Roses lasted The war 
thirty years, from the first battle at St. Albans to begins - 
the last one on Bosworth Eield, and in that time there were 
twelve battles fought. 

We have already seen how feeble a man King Henry VI. 
was, and how utterly unfit for the disastrous times he had 
fallen on. After the first battle of St. Albans, The actors 
when the Duke of York, though victorious, Avent in the war. 
to him, " making humble petition to him for par- Henr y- 
don of what was past," the king, " thoroughly affrighted, 
said, 'Let there be no more killing, then, and I will do what- 
ever you will have me.' " By degrees it came to be ob- 
served, " as it were in the destiny of King Henry, that 
although he were a most pious man, yet no enterprise of 
war did ever prosper where he was." Shakespeare shows 
him to us sitting aside while a battle is raging, and wishing 
he had been born a poor shepherd, with simple cares and 
pleasures, humble fare, and peace and safety. " Ah, what a 
life were this ! how sweet ! how lovely ! " he Bays. Thus, 
though he was loved, he was greatly despised too. 

His wife Margaret was brave and spirited ; but as time 
went on, and misfortunes thickened about her, she 
grew hard, cruel, and unwomanly. After the battle Mar £ aret - 



350 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

of Wakefield, in which the Duke of York was taken pris- 
oner, and his young son, the " pretty Rutland^' shun, it was 
said she mocked and jeered at him savagely, gave him a 
handkerchief dipped in the boy's blood to wipe away his 
tears, and, when he was beheaded, caused his head to be set 
up on the gate of York, decked with a paper crown. But 
no one can help admiring her courage and perseverance. 
She was the mainspring of her husband's party. She went 
everywhere where she could hope to get help for him, — to 
Scotland, to Burgundy, to France. Once, while she was 
wandering about with her son, who was but a child still, 
alone and on foot, in a thick and gloomy forest, they fell in 
with a robber. But Margaret's spirit rose higher with dan- 
ger ; she went boldly up to the rough outlaw, leading her 
boy by the hand, and saying, "This is the son of your king. 
I confide him to your care. 1 ' The rough fellow, who had 
some generosity in his wild nature, was touched by her con- 
fidence, took them both under his protection, and led them 
in safety to their friends. A woman like this was sure to 
inspire her friends with enthusiastic devotion, and her ene- 
mies with deadly hatred. 

The Duke of York had not been so fierce and ambitious 
as some of the rest of his party, and he had tried 

2?v?Jt ke to preserve a kind of moderation. At one time, 
oi York. .' tc ii- i-ii- 

indeed, and after a battle in which his party was 

victorious, he had agreed to a sort of compromise, some- 
thing like the Treaty of Troves in France, by which it was 
proposed that Henry should be king as long as he lived, and 
the Duke of York would be content to be named as his heir, 
and reign after him. But as Queen Margaret would not 
quietly see her boy disinherited, the war went on again, and 
the Duke of York was killed. 

The death of the duke, however, did not end the war, for 
he left three sons to carry on the struggle, all more ambi- 
tious and vigorous than himself. One of the most delightful 
of English writers, who, if he did not know them himself, 
knew those who did, Sir Thomas More, says of them, "All 
these three, as they were great estates by birth, so were 
they great and stately of stomach, greedy of promotion, and 

impatient partners of rule and authority." The 
York ard ° f e ^est °f them, Edward, who during the course of 

these wars became king as Edward IV., was a sin- 
gular character, and, though he" was very popular, we cannot 



TROUBLES IN ENGLAND. 351 

see that he deserved to be so. He was handsome and agree- 
able, and, unlike poor Henry VI., he was clever and unscru- 
pulous, immoral in his private character, and, though seem- 
ingly amiable and kind, in his heart he was hard, cruel, and 
revengeful. 

The next brother, George, Duke oi Clarence, though he 
too was " stately of stomach," was not so clever nor 
determined, but he was faithless and treacherous, arence - 
and was used as a tool by the stronger men he had to do 
with, till they threw him away. 

The third, Richard, was one of the most remarkable char- 
acters in English history. The old historians almost exhaust 
the language in describing his wickedness, and, at 
the same time, seem half awed by his wonderful 1C ar ' 
shrewdness. The common idea of him is learned from 
Shakespeare, and Shakespeare's characterizations become 
more real and enduring than the records of history. 

" I, that have neither pity, love, nor fear," 

Shakespeare makes Richard say. 

"Then since the heavens have shaped my body so, 
Let hell make crook' d my mind to answer it. 
I have no brother; I am like no brother; 
And this word ' Love.' which graybeards call divine, 
Be resident in men like one another, 
And not in me.*' 

Not long ago, however, a French writer gave this account 
of Richard III.: "The truth is, Richard was one of the 
greatest kings who ever reigned over England. As a gene- 
ral, he gained the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. As 
a sovereign, he was merciful, and caused the laws to be 
respected; he reformed abuses and diminished taxes. Asa 
man, he was violent, but courageous and sincere. Finally, 
far from being a monster in person, it appears that he was 
admirably handsome, well-made, and elegant." If this is 
the truth, it is to be feared that a great part of it will never 
be believed. 

Baker's description of him is rather a contrast, and it is 
painted so black that one feels inclined to soften it a little. 
"There never was in any man a greater uniformity of body 
and mind, both of them equally deformed. Of body he was 
but low; crook-backed, hook-shouldered, splay-footed, and 
goggle-eyed; his face little and round, his complexion swar- 



352 GUEST S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

thy, bis left arm from his birth dry and withered. . . . 
Those vices which in other men are passions in him were 
habits; and his cruelty was not upon occasion, but natural. 
. . . And, to say the truth, he was scarce of the number of 
men avIio consist of flesh and blood, being nothing but 
blood." 

Sir Thomas More does not say quite so much about his 
bodily deformity, though he tells us he had what in high 
rank "is called a warlike visage, and among common persons 
a crabbed face." But, " he was close and secret," he writes, 
"a deep dissembler, lowly of countenance, arrogant of heart, 
outwardly familiar where he inwardly hated, not letting* to 
kiss whom he thought to kill. . . . Friend and foe were all 
indifferent where his advantage grew ; he spared no man's 
death whose life withstood his purpose." Thus we get the 
general opinion of him, which his acts, as far as we know 
them, bear out, — that he was so deformed as to seem to him- 
self and to others more a monster than a man; that he felt 
himself a kind of outcast from all that makes life dear to 
most men ; that he scorned himself, and scorned everybody 
else, both man and woman. He gave all his mind to ambi- 
tion, and determined to be king. That he did become king 
at last, and that all who stood between him and the crown 
came to an untimely end, is certain ; but charity, and perhaps 
justice, would lead us to hope there were some points in his 
favor. 

But for a long time the most important person in these 
conflicts was neither king, queen, nor prince. The richest, 
the most powerful, and the most popular of the nobles waa the 
The Earl r ^ °^ ^^ aru 'i c 'ki °f whom Hume says he was the 
of War- greatest as well as the last of those mighty bar- 
wlck- ons who formerly overawed the crown. He was 
the head of one of the greatest and richest families in Eng- 
land, and was related to nearly all the others. Fuller says : 
" This was that Neville, who for extraction, estate, alliance, 
dependents, wisdom, valor, success, and popularity was su- 
perior to any English subject since the Conquest. People's 
love he chiefly purchased by his hospitality, keeping so 
open house that he was most welcome who brought the 
best stomach with him, the earl charitably believing that all 
who were men of teeth were men of arms. Any that looked 

* Hesitating. 



TROUBLES TN ENGLAND. 353 

like a man might have in his house a full half yard of roast 
meat, namely, so much as he could strike through and carry 
away on his dagger. The bear was his crest, and it may be 
truly said that when the bear roared, the lion of the forest 
trembled, the kings of England themselves being at his dis- 
posal." He had houses and castles in several ports of Eng- 
land, and altogether it was believed that thirty thousand 
persons lived at his cost, and were more devoted to him than 
to any king or prince. For a long time he was on the 
White Rose side, and it was through his help and support 
that Edward of York was made king. But when, after- 
wards, Edward gave him offence, he joined himself to Mar- 
garet of Anjou, turned Edward out, brought Henry from 
his prison, and set him on the throne again. For these 
exploits he was called the "king-maker." At last, in the 
great fight of Barnet, Warwick was killed, and could make 
no more kings, though no doubt he had still many schemes 
in his busy brain, for he had married his two daughters to 
two princes, one of the House of York, and one of the 
House of Lancaster; and one of those was queen of Eng- 
land in course of time. 

Queen Katherine, widow of Henry V., had married a 
Welsh gentleman named Tudor. Though it was not uncom- 
mon in those days for members of the royal house 

to marry those who Avere not royal, so that half the S?^^ 
1 1 p —i' --ni t i t it- Richmond, 

noble families in England were related to the king, 

still they generally only allied themselves with the high 
nobility, and this marriage of Queen Katherine was consid- 
ered as greatly beneath her dignity, so that she fell into dis- 
repute, and we hear no more about her. Her sons by the 
Welsh marriage were, of course, half-brothers to Henry VI., 
and one of them Avas made Earl of Richmond, and married 
to a lady of the House of Lancaster, daughter of the Duke 
of Somerset. And though such a distant and left-handed 
sort of relation, the son of those two came forward after a 
time as the representative of the House of Lancaster, and 
became king of England in the end. 

As for the rest of the actors in this great tragedy, we find 
that the Percy's, perhaps remembering Henry V.'s generosity, 
were faithful to the House of Lancaster, but most of the 
nobility seem to have been guided by only selfish motives, 
and became as fickle and treacherous as they were cruel. 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



WARS OF THE ROSES. 



The old nobility and their armies. End of the feudal system. Causes of the war. 
Condition of the people. Edward IV. His marriage. Vicissitudes. 

It is hardly necessary to go over the details of these 
twelve battles,* and the changes and chances of the war. 
Sometimes one side conquered, and sometimes the other; in 
the end we may say both conquered, since a member of the 
House of Lancaster, marrying a member of the House of 
York, became undisputed king. But though we may be at 
first inclined to say that the wars were for nothing, and 
nothing came of them, they had in reality a great effect on 
the whole future history and state of England. 

In the past history we have seen what an enormous power 
the nobles possessed ; they could help or hinder the king 
and the government as they chose; they rebelled and led 
armies, lighting each other, or fighting the king, as 
The armies. | t happened; or, if they had a strong king whom 
they respected, they followed him andfoqght for him. How 
different all that is from anything we ever see or hear of 
now! Imagine now if it were reported that some great duke 
or earl was going to lead an army against the government ! 

We know that dukes and earls have no armies now. 
They may give their opinions, and advice, and votes, and 
money; they may serve in the army, as any gentlemen may, 
and that is all. But before the Wars of the Boses the great 
lords had always armies — armies of their own. They were 
bound, indeed, to have them ; it was on that very condition 
they held their estates. The theory of the feudal system 
was, that the vassals of the king were obliged to furnish so 
many men to help him in his wars. But when they did not 
like the king, it was quite as probable that they would fit 
out those very men to oppose him, as we know Percy and 

* A list of them will be found at the end of this chapter. 
854 



"WARS OF THE ROSES. 355 

the others did in the reign of Henry IV. If there were a 
rival claimant to the throne, some of the nobles would take 
one side, and some the other, according to their interest or 
their sense of duty. 

In such times a rich and popular nobleman, who had a 
large following, and perhaps could hire other soldiers besides 
his own nnder-vassals and tenants, would be even more pow- 
erful than the king himself, as was Warwick, the king-maker. 
There was no regular standing army, nor was there for some 
hundreds of years after this. At that time everybody was a 
soldier in an emergency, and nobody was a soldier continu- 
ally. We can see how they managed in the play of Henri/ 
VI. In the course of this war, Henry hears that his rival, 
Edward, has just landed from the Continent. He has no 
army ready at the moment, but he says, " Let 's levy troops 
and beat him back again." Then he and his friends arrange 
how to levy these troops. Each of the noblemen is to go to 
the place where he has most influence, and muster his friends 
and their followers. The Earl of Warwick says, — 

"In Warwickshire I have true-hearted friends, 
Not mutinous in peace, yet bold in war : 
These will I muster up : and thou, son Clarence, 
Shalt stir in Suffolk, Norfolk, and in Kent. 
The knights and gentlemen to come with thee; 
Thou, brother Montague, in Buckingham, 
Northampton, and in Leicestershire shall find 
Men well inclined to hear what thou command'st; 
And thou, brave Oxford, wondrous well beloved, 
In Oxfordshire shalt muster up thy friends." 

So when the nobles went to muster up an army, the 
ploughmen, the weavers, the laborers of all sorts, would 
leave their work and follow them to fight. They were 
doubtless better soldiers than such men would be at present ; 
for they were regularly trained and practised at certain 
times, and every man knew T , more or less, how to fight, 
though they were not like the disciplined troops we have now. 
After a battle or two, perhaps, they would go back again 
to their ploughs or looms. There were some soldiers, too, 
whose regular profession was war, "free companions," as 
they w r ere called, who were trained men, but who belonged 
to no side, and could be hired by any party, city, or rich man 
who wanted them ; and who, when wanted by no one, gen- 
erally became brigands. 

At the time of the Wars of the Roses all the principal 



356 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

nobles of the kingdom took one side or the other, either that 
of York or Lancaster ; each brought his little army 
The nobles * behind him, and it was they who fought those 
twelve battles. In the end they were nearly all killed. 
The family feeling was very strong, and it was a point of 
honor for a man to avenge the deaths of his relations; then 
the other side would avenge themselves in return. Thus 
one nobleman, Lord Clifford, whose father was killed by the 
Yorkists, in revenge stabbed that poor boy the Duke of Rut- 
land, the son of the Duke of York. Afterwards, in revenge 
for that, he was himself killed by the poor boy's brother. 

In looking over the pedigrees of those great old families, 
it is startling to see how many times we read "killed at 
Tewkesbury, 7 ' " killed at St. Albans," "beheaded after Wake- 
field," and the like. No less than four dukes of Somerset, 
one after the other, perished in these wars. The end of it 
was that the old nobility was almost destroyed, and the 
feudal system vanished forever. This period is generally 
looked on as the end of the middle ages, and the beginning 
of modern times. 

We cannot suppose the great nobles would have raised 
armies, and hurried about fighting, killing, and being killed, 
for love of Henry or Edward, Lancaster or York. Had 
there not been some grave causes of discontent, it is pretty 
certain both York and Mortimer would have been 
Causes of forgotten, noAv that the Laneasters had been sitting 

thg VJ2LT ^ 

on the throne for fifty years, whatever their exact 
rights might have been in the onset. But there was a great 
deal of discontent, and a spirit of entire disaffection spread 
abroad among the nation. Every one was ashamed at the 
disgraceful end of the French war, and the pride of the 
people was not much comforted by the death of the Duke of 
Suffolk, or the Bishop of Chichester. The state of England 
itself was also unsatisfactory. Jack Cade and the Kentish 
men, as we saw, had complained about the way Parliaments 
were elected. A great many people who formerly used to 
vote for members were no longer allowed to do so, and many 
of those who still had votes were obliged to give them accord- 
ing to orders, and not according to their own wishes. Par- 
liament very seldom met. High and low were able to defy 
the law with impunity ; the great families were continually 
carrying on little wars of their own; innumerable robbers 
ranged over the land, keeping the people in constant alarm 



WARS OF THE ROSES. 357 

and distress, and nobody had power to punish the evil-doers 
or protect the helpless and innocent. 

Moreover, the House of Lancaster, both Henry IV. and 
Henry V , had, in their zeal for religion, made common cause 
with the Church, and had persecuted and burnt the Lollards. 
But though the Lollards appeared to be quite crushed, im- 
mense numbers of people, in the bottom of their hearts, 
believed them to be right, and sympathized with them; so 
that when they had time to think, the persecution caused a 
vast deal of hidden discontent, and turned men's hearts 
away from their rulers. 

Thus, with these grievances, spoken or unspoken, a great 
many people were ready for a change. Not that the princes 
of the House of York were likely to remedy these things, or 
ever did so, but when people are dissatisfied they are willing 
to hope that any change will be for the better. We have 
seen how cruel and hard-hearted the nobles became towards 
one another; what their followers were obliged to suffer we 
may imagine. In one beautiful passage which Shakespeare 
added to the old play of Henry VI. he paints it very 
vividly. In one of these battles a father has unknowingly 
killed his own son, and a son his own father, who were 
fighting in opposite ranks; and as they both lament their 
cruel fortune, they think of what is so often forgotten, of 
the poor wife and mother at home, to whom they must carry 
the bitter news.* 

There is consolation in knowing that, on the whole, the 
mass of the people did not suffer so much as might have 
been expected. In some of the battles the leaders 
on both sides gave orders that the poorer people The P eo P le - 
were to be spared, and that only the principal men were to 
be killed. For the most part the people, except those who 
were dependent upon the nobles, took no part at all. The 
merchants and shopkeepers went on with their business; 
the judges went on circuit and held their assizes as in time 
of peace. Xo towns, no churches were destroyed, and those 
who made the quarrel bore the brunt of the punishment. 

There is good reason to believe, in fact, that the poor 
people were better off than they ever were before ; for while 
Edward IV. was king new laws were made to prevent them 
from spending too much money on their clothes. There 

* Third Part of King Henry VI., Act II. scene v. 



dOO GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

have been plenty of sermons and laws against finery, and 
very little good they seem to have done. In the very midst 

of the war a law was passed beginning in this way : 

"The commons, as well men as women, have worn, 
and daily do wear, excessive and inordinate array and apparel, 
to the great displeasure of God, and impoverishing of this 
realm of England." It goes on to command that common 
laborers, and servants, and their wives are never to wear 
cloth costing more than two shillings a yard ; nor are they 
to wear girdles ornamented with silver. Another law was 
passed forbidding wives to get their veils and handkerchiefs 
too fine. Tims it is evident the people must have been 
receiving good wages, or they would never have wanted 
ex pensive things of this kind. 

Though the emancipation of the serfs had done great 
good, and the laborers were in a prosperous condition, some 
evil had come with it too, since many people had no work 
and no wages at all. As we saw, after the Black Death, 
when there were so few men, and wages rose so high, many 
landlords would not or could not pay them; so they left off 
tilling the land, and turned it into great sheep-farms. Then 
only two or three men would be wanted instead of a great 
many; and the sheep were very profitable, both for food 
and for their wool. There was this to be said in favor of 
villeinage, that the owner of the land had at least to feed, 
clothe, and shelter all his villeins, or to see that they had land 
enough to support them. Even when they were ill or old 
they still had to be maintained, and we never hear that they 
were badly treated in this respect. 

But now that they were free, and their own masters, it 
was nobody's duty to look after them. There began to be 

a great many beggars: some " sturdy beggars," who 
fjars bes " would not work ; others old and feeble, who could 

not work; others who could find no work to do. 
Some gave themselves out as "poor scholars;" indeed, a 
certain number of students from Oxford and Cambridge 
were allowed by the authorities to go about begging. It 
was hard to know what to do with these beggars; there was 
always the fear that many of them might turn thieves, as, 
indeed, they often did. The govern rnent passed a great 
many laws, many of them very harsh and cruel, about vaga- 
bonds and beggars ; but it was a long time before they found 
out anything like a reasonable way of dealing with them, not 
till long after the period at which we have now arrived. 



WARS OF THE ROSES. 359 

The reign of Henry VI., if it can be called a reign, is gen- 
erally reckoned to have ended after the battle of Towton, 
which was one of the most cruel and bloody of all 1461 
the twelve, and in which the Lancastrians were Battle of 
utterly defeated. Henry and Margaret fled, and Towton - 
Edward IV. was crowned king. But the Wars of the Roses 
were by no means over yet, and it was not very long before 
lie in his turn had to flee, and Henry, who had been caught 
and imprisoned in the Tower, came forth again as king. 
For though Edward was clever, handsome, and 
popular, he contrived to give offence to the nobles 
who supported him, and above all to the Earl of Warwick, 
the king-maker. The way in which he did this was by 
choosing to make a love-match instead of marrying accord- 
ing to prudence or policy. The marriage he made was very 
much beneath his position, since, though his wife was a lady 
by birth and breeding, she was only the widow of an obscure 
gentleman, and, to make it worse, her husband had been on 
the Lancastrian side. 

In these wars the victorious party took revenge on the 
other by depriving all the lords and gentlemen of their 
estates, and dividing them among themselves; so that many 
were reduced to literal beggary. Nobles might be seen wan- 
dering about barefoot, and begging their bread in France, 
while their successful enemies were eating their bread and 
spending their money. Amongst others there was one John 
Grey, of whom we read that " King Henry made him knight 
at the last battle of St. Alban's, but little while he enjoyed 
his knighthood, for in the same field he was slain." His 
property had been confiscated, and his children were left 
destitute. His widow, who was young and beautiful, ap- 
peared before Edward to implore his compassion; The king- 
was also young, and always ready to fall in love. 1464 
The lady behaved very modestly, and she quite won Hismar- 
his heart ; and, casting away all thought of pru- na & e - 
dence or worldly wisdom, Edward determined to marry her. 

The English had been very angry at Henry VI.'s marry- 
ing a princess who brought no dowry and no high alliances ; 
but this match would seem worse still, as Margaret 
had at least been a princess of royal blood. More- ^Ended 
over, Edward had half promised to marry a French 
princess himself, a sister of the Queen of France ; and War- 
wick, who, besides being king-maker, would have wished to 



360 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

be queen-maker also, was very keen in promoting that alli- 
ance. He likewise wished Edward to give his sister in 
marriage to a French prince, but he chose to marry her to 
the Duke of Burgundy instead. It was also believed that 
Warwick Mould have desired Edward, if he married an Eng- 
lish woman at all, to have married one of his own daughters. 

Thus he was quite alienated from Edward, though he did 
not as yet take part with Henry. He first made friends 
with Edward's brother George, the Duke of Clarence, and 
gave him the daughter Isabel, whom he had perhaps in- 
tended for the king. Through all these wars the nobles 
were constantly changing sides and betraying one another. 
Even the royal family was not faithful, and Clarence now 
conspired to betray his brother. Afterwards he changed 
again, and betrayed his father-in-law. He himself was 
finally betrayed and murdered. 

For the present he and Warwick gave no sign of their in- 
tentions, and perhaps the king had no suspicions. It would 
seem as if no king of England ever read English history, for 
one after another did the same foolish things, which led to 
ruin and misery again and again. Nothing is better known 
than the trouble that came of making royal favorites; we 
remember those of Henry III., Edward II., and Richard II., 
and the ill fortunes that came on them all. But Edward 
IV. does not seem to have remembered, for he began the 
same unwise course. 

As he had married beneath his dignity, and his wife, and 
her relations were looked down upon by the aristocracy of 
the land, perhaps he thought it would set things 
relations' 1 ' 5 ri 8' nt to make them noble now. Accordingly, hon- 
ors and riches Avere poured out upon them. His 
wife's father and brothers received great titles and estates; 
her son was married to the heiress of the Duke of Exeter, 
whom Warwick wanted for his own nephew; her sisters 
were married to rich young men, heirs of earls and dukes, 
whom the lords would have liked to marry their own 
daughters. All this, instead of setting things right, an- 
gered the Earl of Warwick and the rest of the old nobility 
beyond bearing. 

Except for "their being " upstarts," however, there was 
nothing to be said against these relations of the queen. 
One of them, her brother, Lord Rivers, was good, accom- 
plished, and faithful. But their glory was short-lived, and 



"WARS OF THE ROSES. B61 

they paid dear for it. At last there was an open rapture ; 
and Warwick, forsaking Edward, allied himself with 
his most bitter enemy, Margaret of Anjou, who had 
never ceased stirring and striving to reinstate her husband 
and son. He now married his other daughter to her son 
Edward, so that he had two daughters who might, in the 
changes of that changing time, come to be queens of Eng- 
land. This second daughter, Anne, was indeed queen for a 
short time, though not by the means her father expected. 

As soon as Warwick appeared in England, the people, 
who loved and admired him, flocked around him in crowds. 
Edward had to flee out of the country, and in such haste 
that he took nothing with him, and had no means of paying 
the captain of the ship which carried him across, but by giv- 
ing him a cloak lined with sable. His poor wife, whom he 
left behind him, took refuge with her young daughters in the 
sanctuary at Westminster. 

With all its faults, the Church was able to exercise its 
power for good in those troubled times. In our 
days, when the law is supreme and impartial, there Sanctu- 
is no need of sanctuaries for refuge. Even in 
those days the good they did was mixed with evil ; for it ap- 
pears that " a rabble of thieves, murderers, and malicious 
heinous traitors " were sometimes harbored there. But 
when the country was divided into two parties, longing 1 to 
murder one another, this right of protection in a sacred 
place saved many innocent lives. The priests were very 
brave in defence of the fugitives who took refuge in the 
churches, for sometimes the soldiers would pursue them 
even there. Once King Edward himself did so with his 
followers; but the pviest, taking the sacrament in his hands, 
threw himself between him and his victims, and would not 
move till the king promised to pardon them. Sometimes 
people would be tempted out with false promises of pardon ; 
but on the whole it is believed that two thousand lives were 
saved in London alone by the protection of the sanctuaries. 

The queen took shelter in Westminster, and there her 
unhappy son, Edward V., was born. Shakespeare makes 
her say, "Small joy have I in being England's queen." 
Katherine of France, who was so despised for descending to 
marry a private gentleman, was perhaps wiser and happier 
than Elizabeth Woodville, who rose from being a private 
lady to marry a king. However, it was not very long 



3(32 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

before Edward returned. His brother Clarence had become 
treacherous again, and deserted Warwick. Two great bat- 
tles were fought, in both of which Edward was 
" victorious. The first was at Barnet, and there 
Warwick, the king-maker, was slain ; the second was at 
Tewkesbury, and it utterly ruined the Lancastrian house. 
The young Prince Edward, son of Henry and Margaret, was 
brutally murdered; it is said by Edward's two brothers, 
Clarence and Gloucester. Margaret was made prisoner, and 
Henry was taken back to the Tower, where he very 
Henrv° f soon a ^ ter die<|. The Yorkists gave out that he 
died of a broken heart, but everybody believed 
that he was murdered, and Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, 
had the credit- of it, whether he really deserved it or not. 
The people soon began to look on King Henry as a saint, 
and said that wonderful miracles were worked at his tomb. 

Margaret of Anjou, whose brave struggle hail ended so 
tragically, and who had now nothing left to struggle for, 
was kept a prisoner for five years. At last the king of 
France paid fifty thousand crowns for her ransom, and she 
was allowed to go back to France, where she lived for the 
few remaining years of her desolate life. But though the 
royal family of Lancaster was thus broken up and extin- 
guished, the end was not yet come. There still lived young 
Richmond, descended from John of Gaunt, who was to make 
himself heard in due time. 

Xot very long after these battles and murders, Richard, 
Duke of Gloucester, married Anne, that daughter of the 
Earl of Warwick who had been the wife of Edward Plan- 
tagenet, son- of Henry. Afterward, as the wife of Richard, 
she became queen of England, and she, still more than 
Elizabeth Woodville, might say, t- Small joy have I in being- 
England's queen." As to her courting by Gloucester, it 
should be read in the play of Richard III. (Act I. scene ii.). 

THE TWELVE BATTLES. 

• 1455. St. Albans. 1461. Towton. 

1459. Bloreheath. 1464. Hexham. 

1460. Northampton. 1469. Banbury. 

1460. Wakefield. 1471. Barnet. 

1461. Mortimer's Cross, 1471. Tewkesbury. 
1461. St. Alban's. 1485. Bosworth. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



THE END OF THE WAR. 



Caxton and the printing-press. Richard III. His victims. Murder of the young 
princes. Henry Tudor. Battle of Bosworth Field. 

While all these events were taking place among the heads 
of the nation, there was going on in the precincts of West- 
minster Abbey a work far more important and interesting 
than the battles, victories, defeats, or marriages of all the 
kings and queens in the world. That beautiful abbey, round 
which so much of English history clusters, had seen many 
splendid sights, — gorgeous coronations, stately funerals; 
but the work that was going on there now was so quiet, so 
humble, that comparatively few people knew or cared much 
about it; and yet it made a greater and a happier change 
than almost any other work we know of ; it was the first 
introduction into England of the art of printing. 

It is difficult for us to realize how we should do without 
books and newspapers. It was mentioned a few pages back 
that coming events were casting their shadows before. The 
higher classes were beginning to care more and more for 
books, and not to leave them exclusively to priests and monks. 
The richer ones had collected fine libraries ; and others, who 
were not so rich, still had some books of their own, and could 
read and enjoy them. 

In visiting a house, not knowing much of the people who 
live in it, Ave cast a glance over the bookshelves, and, by 
seeing the books, we judge what sort of people they arc 
So, if we could know the books which our forefathers read, 
Ave should feel a little more intimate and acquainted with 
them. We are fortunate enough to have a cata- 
logue of a private gentleman's library (preserved j^",.™ 
almost by chance) just before printing was invented. 
There were altogether about thirty books. There Avas no 
Bible among them, but there were a few books of religion 

363 



304 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and morality: one, «*i prayer-book; one, a legend, or life 
of a saint ; and some of Cicero's writings on friendship, 
wisdom, and old age. One was about the blazonings, crests, 
and coats of arms, which gentlemen thought so much of; 
some were about the duties of knights and the laws of the 
land. Then there were some of Chaucer's poems, and sev- 
eral tales and romances, some of which were perhaps thought 
to be English history, since there was one about King 
Arthur, and one about Richard Coeur de Lion. It would 
not be disagreeable to be shut up for a season in a country 
house with these thirty books as companions. 

We know, too, how much they cost, for there is the bill 
of the man who wrote them out for Sir John Paston, their 
owner. The copyist got twopence a leaf for prose, and a 
penny a leaf for poetry, and something extra for " rubris- 
sheing," or decorating the pages with red initial letters, and 
so on, like the " rubric" of a prayer-book. The price of one 
leaf ornamented a little in this way woidd have been equal 
to about two shillings sterling, and a whole book would be 
therefore very costly. 

It was reported that a marvellous art had been developed 
in Germany, by which copies were made wonderfully fast, 

and sold wonderfully cheap. A book costing five 
BrintinV^ nun( l re< l crowns in manuscript could be produced 

for sixty crowns. It was not wonderful that peo- 
ple thought this must have something to do with the black 
art, and that the man who did it got the credit of being a 
magician. 

There happened to be living in Flanders at this time a 
very intelligent Englishman, William Caxton, who had been 

the apprentice of a London mercer, but had gone 

abroad, most likely, on some mercantile business. 
Flanders at that period belonged to the Duke of Burgundy; 
and as it was very important both to Flanders and to Eng- 
land that they should be good friends, on account of the 
trade between the two countries, Edward IV. had married 
one of his sisters to the Duke of Burgundy. This English 
duchess was very kind to our Londoner. Caxton, though 
he had been bred a mercer, was fond of literary work and 
of books ; and at this time he was translating into English a 
French book about "The History of Troy." The duchess 
took great interest in it, and even helped him in some parts. 
And as he expected a great many people would like to read 



THE END OF THE WAR. 365 

it, he made up his mind that, instead of having it copied out 
by hand, he would try the new invention, and have it 
printed. 

He took great pains to learn the whole art. His hook was 
finished at Bruges, and was the first English book that was 
ever printed. He gave this account of it himself : 
"Thus end I this book, which I have translated out 
of mine author as nigh as God hath given me cunning, to 
whom be given the laud and praising. And for as much as 
in the writing of the same my pen is worn, mine hand weary 
and not steadfast, mine eyes dimmed with overmuch looking 
on the white paper, and my courage not so prone and ready 
to labor as it hath been, and that age creepeth on me daily 
and feebleth all the body, and also because I have promised 
to divers gentlemen and to my friends to address to them as 
hastily as I might this said book, therefore I have practised 
and learned, at my great charge and dispense, to ordain this 
said book in print, after the manner and form as ye may here 
see; and is not written with pen and ink, as other books be, 
to the end that every one may have them at once." Although 
he complains so pathetically of being old and feeble, he was 
really not quite sixty when he wrote this, and he went on 
working for about twenty years longer. 

Five or six years afterwards he came to England, and 
settled himself in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It 
is not quite clear why he chose that place for his labors. 
Perhaps it was because, hitherto, nearly if not quite all the 
writing and copying had been done in monasteries. Every 
monastery had a room called the " copying-room," where 
scribes sat writing and ornamenting the books, so it may 
have seemed the most natural thing for this new kind of 
copying to be done there too. Or, again, Caxton may have 
thought that it would save him from the charge of sorcery 
to do his work in so holy a place, under the sanction of the 
abbot ; and the " sanctuary," too, would be a protection to 
him if he came into any danger. 

In England he was favored by the king and the royal 
family, including Richard, as in Bruges he had been by the 
Duchess of Burgundy ; and especially by the queen's brother, 
Lord Rivers, who, besides being a learned and accomplished 
gentleman, was an author himself, and had written a book 
called " The Dictes, and notable wyse Sayings of the Phy- 
losophers ; " and that book was the first ever printed in Eng- 



366 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

land. Soon after, two other books were written by him, 
and printed by Caxton ; the last one he wrote when 

1477 ' he was thirty-six years old, only three years before 
his untimely death. 

Some of the other books which Caxton printed and pub- 
lished were a history and a geography of our own country ; 
a book giving an account of the universe as far as it was 
understood at that time, showing how "the earth holdeth 
right in the middle of the world " (or universe, as we should 
say), and giving a description of the " celestial paradise." 
He also printed Chaucer's " Canterbury Tales," some of 
Grower's writings, the story of " Reineke Fuchs," or "Rey- 
nard the Fox," "JEsop's Fables," and the "History of Ar- 
thur and his Knights,", as it had been newly written by an 
Englishman ; some other tales and romances, legends of 
saints, and several religions books. He did not print the 
Bible ; for at this time it was forbidden by law to circulate 
Wycliffe's Bible, and had he printed it, he and his printing- 
presses doubtless would have come to a very summary end. 
He was a simple-hearted, religious man, and when beginning 
any work he would offer a short prayer that he might be able 
to bring it to a good end, " to the honor and glory of 
Almighty God." 

Some of the books he printed are to be seen now in the 
British Museum. 

As Edward IV. had conquered all his enemies at home, he 
bewail to think of goino- to war with France again, which the 
English were generally glad enough to do. Though the 
Parliament, in a lawful way, gave him a good large sum of 
money, he still thought he "wanted more. With all his ap- 
parent good nature, Edward had a strung will and arbitrary 
character. He did not like to be dependent on Parliament, 
yet he did not dare, as some kings had done, to impose taxes 
without its consent. He bethought him of an ingenious 
expedient, which was to ask the rich citizens out of kindness 
to give him a large sum, which was called a " benevo- 
Benevo- lence," or token of good will. The citizens would 
lences. much rather not nave gi ven it, but they dared not 

refuse ; " as though," says More, " the name of benevolence 
had signified that "every man should pay not what he himself 
of his'uood will list to grant, but what the king of his good 
will list to take." So, though bearing so pleasing a name, it 
was a o-rievous additional tax, and the ingenious idea in due 



THE END OF THE WAR. 367 

time produced its effect. Meanwhile, though he got so much 
money, the war came to nothing. 

The new king of France, Louis XI., was shrewd and as 
wicked as the worst France ever had, and much more clear- 
headed than most of them. He did not wish to go 
to war with England, having his hands full of other Sp^jjjJ^ 
business, so by skill and bribes he contrived to make 
friends with Edward and his counsellors, and send them all 
back to England. The two kings met on a bridge over the 
river Sonime, not far from Amiens. The murder of the 
Duke of Burgundy by the Dauphin on the bridge at Monte- 
reau was not forgotten ; accordingly, these two civilized and 
Christian kings could not approach each other without as 
great precautions as if each had been going to meet a wild 
beast. Across the middle of the bridge a strong barricade 
was set up, consisting of a firm grating or lattice work, such 
as lions' cages are made of ; the space between the bars was 
just wide enough to admit a man's arm. The two kings 
bowed to each other in the most polite and respectful man- 
ner, one on each side of the barrier, and then embraced each 
other through the apertures of the grating. After a long 
and friendly conversation, in which the chronicler tells us 
the King of England spoke very good French, they shook 
hands through the grating, and parted. Soon afterwards 
Edward returned to England with very little glory but 
plenty of French money. 

Meanwhile, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was watching 
his opportunity, never flinching in his determination to 
arrive at the throne no matter who stood in his way. The 
enemies of his house, Henry VI. and his son, being dead, 
and Henry of Richmond being banished to Brittany, there 
only remained his own near relations. The next one to die 
was his brother Clarence, who was older than he, and there- 
fore had a better chance. Clarence had already played the 
traitor twice, but it does not appear that he had done any 
harm since. His wife was the sister of Richard's wife, and 
he had two young children. Edward was now induced to 
charge him with treason, and, stranger still, with necro- 
mancy, or magic, and to commit him to the Tower. Once 
in custody, we may be sure of what happened next. 14 ~ 8 
In ten days he was dead. The manner of his death Death of 
could never be exactly known, though it was said Clarence - 
he was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. Richard got 
the credit of this murder also. 



308 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

Five years after that (though Shakespeare makes it hap- 
pen when Edward, was on his death-bed) the king died, leav- 
ing all the nobles ready to fly at each other's throats as soon 
as he was gone. The hatred between the older nobles and 
the queen's relations w r as as virulent as ever. Edward tried 
to make peace between them as he lay dying, but the hol- 
low promises they made to please him were not likely to be 
kept. 

As soon as he died the struggle began. On the one side 
were the little boy, Edward V., who was about thirteen 
1483 years old, his brother Richard, two years younger, 
Death of his mother, her brother and other relations, and 
Edward IV. some f evv nobles who were faithful to them ; on the 
other the cruel, remorseless Richard, with some of the most 
powerful of the nobles, who hated the queen's family, though 
they meant no ill to the young princes. The most important 
were the Duke of Buckingham, who was a relation to the 
family of Lancaster, and Lord Hastings. Of these two we 
hear that they did not bear " to each other so much love, as 
hatred both to the queen's blood." Edward V. was only 
king, or the shadow of a king, for three months, and was 
never crowned, though he is always reckoned among the 
kings of England. 

When his father died the young prince was at Ludlow 
Castle, on the borders of Wales, where he was being edu- 
cated by his uncle, Lord Rivers, the same who had helped 
Caxton, and who had collected the sayings of the philoso- 
phers. Being a gallant and accomplished man, he was a 
verv suitable person to educate a young king, and it appears 
that he was bringing him up with great tenderness and wis- 
dom, and that the prince was much attached to him. His 
only fault appears to have been that he was the queen's 
brother. 

Richard determined to get his young nephews into his 
own power, and to separate them from their mother and her 
relations, who would protect them. He had no 
Richard's g re at difficulty before him so far, because of the 
jealousy felt by the rest of the nobility against 
these newly-created lords. Richard used this jealousy very 
skilfully for his own purposes; the Duke of Buckingham, 
in particular, " promised to wait upon him with a thousand 
good fellows, if need were." 

The first tiling he did was to go to meet the young king, 



THE END OF THE WAfi, 369 

who was travelling up from Ludlow for his coronation, and 
to remove him from his uncle, his half-brother, and other 
friends and attendants. The poor boy " wept, and was not 
content, but it booted not." Lord Rivers and the others 
were sent off to Pomfret Castle, where they were soon after 
beheaded without trial. 

When the queen heard that Richard had taken possession 
of the young king, though he still kept up all outward forms 
of propriety, and pretended that he did it for his greater 
good, her heart misgave her, and she fled once more to the 
sanctuary, taking the little Richard, Duke of York, with 
her, and there she sate " alone on the rushes, all desolate and 
dismayed." 

She was soon over-persuaded to give the child up, the 
Archbishop of Canterbury being sent by the Duke of Glou- 
cester with many fair words and arguments to prevail on her. 
But it was with doubt and fear that she consented. "And 
therewithal," writes More, "she said to the child, 'Farewell, 
mine own sweet son ; God send you good keeping ; let me 
once kiss you ere you go, for God knoweth when we shall kiss 
together again ; ' and therewith she kissed him and blessed 
him, and turned her back and wept, going her way, leaving 
the poor innocent child weeping as fast as the mother." 

The Duke of Gloucester was appointed protector of the 

kingdom, and the two little princes were sent to 

the Tower, " after which day they never came pr inc'es Un? 

abroad." "Rough cradle for those little prettv^ntto 

„ . , ., . & ,, r j t h e Tower, 

ones, said their mother. 

Now that these helpless children, his last rivals, were in 
his power, Richard began to aim more openly at the crown. 
But some who had followed him thus far now began to hang 
back ; Lord Hastings, in particular, would not betray the 
sons of his late master. 

In all these merciless intrigues what seems to have struck 
people most was Richard's consummate hypocrisy. We read 
that he came into the council with a smiling face, as though 
thinking of nothing amiss, and talking to the Bishop of Ely 
about the fine strawberries which grew in his garden at Hol- 
born ; and then coming in again, an hour or two after, pre- 
tending to have found out a dreadful plot in the interval, 
"all changed, with a sour, angry countenance, knitting the 
brows, frowning and fretting, gnawing of his lips," and de- 
claring he will not dine till he has Lord Hastings' head. 



370 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Sir Thomas Move's account of this is as vivid as if he had 
seen it with his own eyes. He probably learned it from 
Morton, the Bishop of Ely, who had such fine strawberries, 
and who really did see and hear it all. But as this Morton 
was imprisoned by Richard, and was afterwards one of his 
most active opponents, Ave must conclude that he would 
hardly be an impartial observer, and he may perhaps have 
given Richard a more dreadful character than he really de- 
served. 

Even after the execution, or rather the murder, of Has- 
tings, the Duke of Buckingham still supported Richard, and 
helped him in all his devices. They tried hard to get the 
people of London to side with them, and to cry out for 
"King Richard." Richard set himself forth "as a godly 
prince, clean and faultless of himself, sent out of heaven into 
this vicious world for the amendment of men's manners." 
They got a clergyman to preach for him, and to allege that 
all the royal family, his two dead brothers and his two young 
nephews, all excepting himself, were illegitimate, and that 
there was no one to compare with Richard; but the people 
"stood as if they had been turned to stones." Then the 
Duke of Buckingham himself made a speech to the citizens 
about the goodness of Richard, and the safety, wealth, and 
prosperity they would enjoy were he once king ; and he 
spoke so eloquently " that every man much marvelled, and 
thought that they never heard in their lives so evil a tale so 
well told." Nevertheless, the citizens were " as still as mid- 
night." 

Richard still would not actually seize on the crown by 
force, for he knew that the English were a people " whom no 
man earthly can govern against their wills." At 
mad^kinl ' ast ^ e P ai "hament, the lords and commons, were 
' over-persuaded to come to him and offer him the 
crown. He pretended to be very unwilling to accept it, and 
they then, headed by the Duke of Buckingham, assured him 
that if he refused they Mould choose some other king. This 
reluctance and persuasion had been arranged by Richard and 
Buckingham in secret, and when the play had gone far 
enough, Richard condescended to accept that which he was 
longing for, telling the Parliament that his title of birth was 
now joined to the election of the nobles and commons of the 
realm, "which," said he, "we, of all titles possible, take for 
most effectual." 



THE END OF THE WAR. 371 

He was now solemnly proclaimed, and was crowned in 
Westminster Abbey. He offered offerings at St. Edward's 
shrine, " while the monks sang Te Deuin with a faint cour- 
age." His Avife was crowned with him, and her train was 
borne by the Countess of Richmond, the mother of Henry, 
who was biding his time in Brittany. We do not know 
what she might be thinking as she walked behind the new 
queen, but we know that there was trouble in store for 
Richard already. The Duke of Buckingham, his fast friend 
and ally, had begun to turn against him in secret. He ap- 
peared at the coronation gorgeously apparelled, but he "rode 
with an evil will and worse heart." 

Richard, however, began his reign very well. He really 
seemed for a time to deserve those high praises which the 
Frenchman gives him. After his coronation he 
sent the nobles who had attended it back to their He rules 
own estates, giving them " strait charge and com- 
mandment to see their countries well ordered, and that no 
wrong nor extortion should be done to his subjects." He 
summoned a Parliament ; he declared he would restore the 
old liberties of England, and abolish all oppression such as 
his brother had practised, especially those "benevolences," 
which were so heartily disliked. He protected and helped 
the merchants ; he encouraged literature, and the printing 
and selling of books. He set free the few bondmen who 
were still living on the royal estates. He did, in short, all 
he could to win popularity. 

The jieople could not forget his crimes. And now he 
added one more, — the most horrible of all, and the one 
which makes his name to be shuddered at to this D th 
day, — the murder of the innocent children in the of the 
Tower. Of course, like the rest of those murders, P rinces - 
it could never be strictly proved, but every one believed 
that the two little princes were smothered in their bed, and 
the belief has strengthened with time. 

No one any longer cared for his just government, or for 
his abolishing the benevolences. Every one loathed and 
abhorred him as a fiend in human shape. " When the fame 
of this detestable fact," says More, " was revealed and 
divulged through the whole realm, there fell generally such 
a dolor and inward sorrow into the hearts of all the 
people, that they in every town, street, and place openly 
wept and piteously sobbed." Whenever there was a great 



372 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

thunderstorm, or a tempestuous wind, " they did openly cry 
and make vociferation that God would take vengeance, and 
punish the poor Englishmen for the crime and offence of 
their ungracious king." 

The royal houses of York and Lancaster were all hut 
Henrv Tu- extmct 5 °^ Lancaster not one legitimate member 
dor comes remained ; but there was still that Henry Tudor of 
forward. w ] lom mention has been made, and who had begun 
to be looked on as the representative of the Red Rose. 
Henry VI., who was now regarded as a saint, was said to 
have prophesied of him that he should be king, and " Eng- 
land's bliss," and the enemies of Richard set all their hearts 
and hopes upon him. To make his title better, it Avas pro- 
posed that he should marry the Princess Elizabeth, eldest 
daughter of Edward IV. ; thus both the rival houses, the 
Red and the White Roses, would be at last united. 

But Richard thought to be beforehand with them there. 
His first plan was to marry the princess to his own only son, 
but he died just about this time. Richard had 
ces^ E^iza- shown before now that he would stop at nothing; 
beth of and, though he had a wife already, he determined 
to put her out of the way, and marry his own 
niece, Elizabeth, sooner than let Henry Tudor win her. He 
expected to gain the Pope's consent to this marriage, though 
it was contrary to all the laws of the Church and the coun- 
try. He would perhaps have succeeded in gaining the Pope's 
permission, since lie gained what one Mould have thought far 
more difficult, the consent of the princess and her mother, 
Elizabeth. 

But though Queen Anne died just at the convenient sea- 
son, yet the whole nation was so disgusted and so averse to 
this unnatural marriage that it had to be given up, and in 
due time Henry Tudor got the princess for himself. 

Meanwhile the most important people in the country were 
joining Henry's party ; amongst them Morton, the Bishop of 
Ely, who had been imprisoned by Richard, but had made 
his escape. The Duke of Buckingham also revolted openly. 
He perceived that Richard was "disdained of the lords tem- 
poral, execrate and accursed of all the lords spiritual, detested 
of all gentlemen, and despised of all the commonalty." Well 
might Richard say, as Shakespeare makes him do, "There is 
no creature loves me." 

Henry's first attempt at invasion failed, and after it the 



THE END OF THE WA R. &i 6 

Duke of Buckingham was captured and beheaded; but the 
prince soon came again, landing in Wales, where 
he had many friends, being partly a Welshman Battle of 
himself. On his march forward more and more j^j[ orth 
adherents joined him. He and Richard met at 
Bosworth Field, near Leicester. Richard, with all his faults, 
was very courageous, and he fought bravely now, but all in 
vain. It was perhaps quite true, as Henry says in the 

play, — 

" Richard except, those whom we fight against 
Had rather have us win than him they follow." 

This was the last battle of the Wars of the Roses, and it 
was quite characteristic of those wars that its fate was de- 
cided by treachery, or, if we can hardly call it treachery, 
by one of the principal leaders of Richard's army going over 
to Henry's side. This was Lord Derby or Stanley, who was 
stepfather to Henry ; for though his mother was always 
called Countess of Richmond, she had, after the death of 
Henry's father, married the Earl of Derby. Richard was 
therefore very suspicious of him ; so much so that he kept 
his son George as a hostage, and when he saw that Derby 
had deserted him he instantly exclaimed, " Off with George 
Stanley's head ! " But the officers in charge, not knowing 
yet how the battle might turn, thought it more prudent to 
wait a little before obeying, and so the young man's life was 
saved. Richard was defeated and killed; his crown was 
found hanging on a hawthorn bush on the battle-field, and 
was placed by Lord Derby on the head of the victorious 
Henry. 

In the stained-glass windows of Henry VII.'s Chapel in 
Westminster Abbey, besides the union of the Red and White 
Roses, which appears over and over again, we may see also 
the picture of the hawthorn tree of Bosworth Field, with 
the golden crown above it. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 



THE RENAISSANCE. 



Peace after war. Henry VII. His character. He suppresses the power of the 
nobles. England prospers. Discovery of America. The revival of learning. 

" From town to town, from tower to tower, 
The Red Hose is a gladsome flower. 
Her thirty years of winter past, 
The Red Rose is revived at last. 
She lifts her head for endless spring, 
For everlasting blossoming ; 
Both Roses flourish, Red and White, 
In love and sisterly delight ; 
The two that were at strife are blended, 
And all old troubles now are ended.*' 

So sang, or so might sing, the minstrels after this victory 

which "brought again peace to England. But, though the 

event was joyful, there is not much that is interest- 

„ 148 ^; TT ino- to be said about Henrv VII. himself. He was 

xiGnrv VII. ^ * 

'not like any of the kings his predecessors; not a 
hero like Henry V., nor a saint like Henry VI., nor a mur- 
dering fiend like Richard III. He was what we may call 
commonplace. "As his face was neither strange nor dark, 
so neither was it winning nor pleasing," says his biographer; 
and much the same might be said of his character. 

He was very prudent and sensible. He married Elizabeth 
of York, though he does not seem to have been very fond of 
her. He was formally accepted as king by the Parliament, and 
he took care not to get embroiled with it at any future time. 

All the Tudor sovereigns were noted for having what is 
called "a will of their own," and had a strong inclination to 
be despotic. Henry VII. by no means liked to be shackled 
and controlled by Parliament, and he very seldom allowed it 
to meet. This made it difficult to raise money, as by law 
taxes could be levied only by the lords and commons, but 
Henry contrived, without openly breaking the law, to get 
a great deal. 

374 



THE RENAISSANCE. 375 

At one time he summoned Parliament and induced them 
to vote him large supplies for a war with France, after which 
he did not go to war at all, but kept the money. He fol- 
lowed Edward IV.'s example in raising "benevolences," 
which Richard III. had abolished; but as the rich citizens 
liked paying them no better than before, they soon came to 
be called "malevolences." His principal minister and 
prime counsellor for a long time was Morton, the Bishop of 
Ely, who grew such fine strawberries in Holborn, and who 
was afterwards promoted to be archbishop, cardinal, and 
legate. He aided his master very shrewdly in the matter of 
"benevolences." For if a man lived handsomely, in a fine 
house, with plenty of servants, the bishop would say it was 
evident he was a wealthy man, and had money to spend ; 
and "there is no reason," said he, "but for your prince's 
service you should do so much more, and therefore 
you must pay." But if a man lived humbly and fo£k tons 
frugally, making no show at all, then it was evident 
that he must have saved up a good deal, as he spent so little; 
" therefore, be content, you must pay." This was called 
" Morton's fork," because if a man could slip off one prong- 
he got caught on the other. 

Towards the end of his reign the king got two sharp and 
cunning lawyers, Empson and Dudley, to help him. They 
raked up all the old statutes and pretexts for screwing money 
out of people, by fair means or unfair, and made themselves 
hated and dreaded by all the people in the land. 

In these ways Henry contrived to get a large hoard of 
money, and was able to go on year after year without sum- 
moning Parliament, and to rule as he and his counsellors 
chose. Besides keeping the Parliament down in this way, 
he took great pains to lessen the power of the p owep of 
nobles, and enforced a very stern law against their the nobles 
keeping such bands of retainers and armed follow- imims e ■ 
ers as made them formidable. Edward IV. had already 
tried to break down this power, and Henry did so still more ; 
they were determined to have no more noblemen like the 
Earl of Warwick, who could make or unmake kings at his 
pleasure. 

Henry once went to pay a visit to the Earl of Oxford, who 
had been one of the greatest supporters of the House of 
Lancaster (as we may read in Scott's novel, "Anne of Geier- 
stein"). The earl received him with great honor, and two 



©76* GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

long lines of retainers, wearing his livery, were drawn up to 
receive him. These retainers in their master's livery were 
just what Henry was determined to put down; so when he 
took leave of the earl, having first inquired whether all these 
men were his household servants, and hearing that they 
were not servants, but retainers, Henry said, "I thank 
you for your good cheer, my lord, but I may not endure to 
have my laws broken in my sight. My attorney must speak 
with you/' And the earl had to pay a fine of ten thousand 
pounds, and was very glad to escape perhaps without paying 
his head too. 

Though the noblemen kept up their outward state, they 
thus lost much of their power, and never recovered it. The 
Wars of the Roses had probably made them much poorer 
also, even those who had escaped with their lives. They 
seem to have lived in a very rough and rude way, and were 
extremely economical in some matters. One of them, the 
Earl of Northumberland, left a curious account-book behind 
him which tells us a good deal about the household of a 
great lord. 

This earl had three country houses in Yorkshire, and he 
divided his time between them; but he had only furniture 
for one. 80 when he moved from one to another he 
man's na( l to ta ^ e ^ ns heds, tables, chairs, and kitchen uten- 
house- sils after him in carts and wagons. The servants 
eeping. w ^ took care of the pots and pans, and such like, 
were called the "black guard ;" and, as they were the lowest 
of all the household, that name came by degrees to mean 
any kind of low, coarse, rude person. My lord and my lady 
had breakfast — by no means delicate — every day at seven 
o'clock. They had a quart of beer and a quart of wine, half 
a chine of boiled beef or mutton, or, on fasting days, salt 
fish, red herrings, or sprats. For dinner they would have 
sometimes chickens, geese, pork, or peacocks. A chicken 
cost a halfpenny ; a goose, threepence or fourpence ; a pheas- 
ant or a peacock, a shilling. 

They had not yet learned how to feed cattle all the year, 
so they had fresh beef only between midsummer and 
Michaelmas ; the servants lived on salt meat nearly all the 
year round, with very few vegetables. The mass was said 
every morning at six o'clock, so that all the servants might 
be obliged to get up early. They had orders how many 
slices of meat were to be cut out of each joint ; they 



THE RENAISSANCE. :Sn 

had orders even how to make their mustard, beginning in n 
very lordly way : " It seemeth good to us and to our Coun- 
cil ; " they had orders how many fires were to be lighted ; 
and very cold they must often have been, since no fires were 
allowed after Lady-day except for my lord, and my lady, 
their eldest son, and in the nursery. 

The pinching economy of all, however, appears to have 
been in linen and washing. In the whole establishment 
(a hundred and sixty-six persons, and more than fifty 
strangers daily) there were nine table-cloths ; there were no 
sheets at all ; and the washing-bill for the whole year was 
forty shillings, including the linen belonging to the chapel. 
Comment appears to be unnecessary. No doubt the reason 
my lord and lady travelled from one house to another, at so 
much inconvenience, was the same which caused Queen 
Elizabeth afterwards to make many royal progresses, namely, 
that the house or palace after a time became so dreadfully 
dirty, or, as an old writer says, " with continual usage the 
house waxed unsavory," so that it was necessary to leave it 
for a time. 

The more to keep down the overweening power of the 
nobility, Henry encouraged the middle classes, who were 
constantly rising into importance: not only the merchants 
of the towns, but also the farmers and yeomen of the 
country. On the whole, we may say he did the country 
good; after the long wars and disturbances there was peace 
and order, and the laws had a semblance of respect. 

In his time, too, the first effectual steps Avere taken 
towards uniting the whole island of Great Britain, prongs 
Many efforts had already been made to combine all towards 
the different races inhabiting it into one nation, Great 1 " 
under one head. In the old times, the greater of Britain, 
the English kings before the Norman Conquest had made 
the princes of Wales and Scotland do homage to them. 
Edward I. had conquered Wales ; he had also striven, 
though in vain, to conquer Scotland. But now time was 
peacefully preparing what had never succeeded by war and 
conquest. 

Though Wales had been conquered by Edward I., the 
Welsh had never been easy under the English rule, and 
were always ready to rebel, as they did under Owen Glen- 
dower, in Henry IY.'s time. But now that a Welshman 
was king of England they became quite reconciled to their 



878 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

position, no longer looking upon themselves as a conquered 
people, but as a part of the same nation ; and from this time 
onward there were no more troubles in Wales. 

Henry VII. also paved the way for the union of England 
and Scotland, which had been such dangerous and harassing 
neighbors to each other for centuries, by marrying his 
daughter Margaret to the king of Scotland. A great deal 
of trouble came out of that marriage for a time, but in the 
end the royal families of England and Scotland became one. 

Though Henry was an uninteresting and un heroic char- 
acter, his reign was, on the whole, of service to the country. 
He made what seemed a very prudent match for his 
cess Katii- eldest son, Prince Arthur, by marrying him to a prin- 
erine of C ess of Spain, which country was now becoming very 
strong and important. A few months after the mar- 
riage, however, the prince, who was but sixteen years old, 
died. Henry, who wished to continue the alliance with 
Spain, and was also very unwilling to restore the princess's 
dowry, then obtained the Pope's dispensation, and married 
her to his next son, Henry, who was only twelve years old, 
while the wife who was forced upon him was six years older. 
He seems to have objected very strongly to the marriage, 
as was only natural. This union led to very grave conse- 
quences, as will be seen. 

Henry VII. had not much peace for some time after his 
succession. His own title to the crown being very far from 
p , clear, except so far as Parliament had accepted him, 
to the there arose pretenders to it, who gave him a great 
crown. jjggj Q £ trouble. The first of these gave himself out 
for the young son of the Duke of Clarence, who was called 
Earl of Warwick, after his grandfather, the king-maker, and 
who was really shut up in prison all this time for no 

1487, offence whatever except his birth. This pretender 
was really named Lambert Simnel, and was the son of a car- 
penter. 

The second professed to be Richard, Duke of York, the 

poor young boy who, as there seems no reason to doubt, had 

been murdered in the Tower, but who was now 

1496, said to have escaped. Every one now believes that 
this claimant was one Perkin Warbeck, born at Tournay, in 
Flanders. Both the adventurers, and especially the last, 
found powerful allies and supporters. The old friends and 
relations of the House of York, and the nobility whom 



THE RENAISSANCE. 379 

Henry had been humiliating, were ready enough to turn 
against him. Edward IV.'s sister, the Duchess of Burgundy, 
favored them both, acknowledged them as her nephews, and 
gave them money and aid to invade England. The king of 
Scotland favored Perkin, and married him to a relation of 
his own. 

But in the end first one and then the other fell into 
Henry's power. Lambert Simnel was not of enough conse- 
quence to be allowed a state trial ; he was pardoned, and, 
from being a prince and Earl of Warwick, the foolish fellow 
was glad enough to be made a scullion in the king's kitchen. 
But Perkin Warbeck, who was more dangerous, and had given 
a great deal more trouble, was imprisoned in the Tower, and 
a year or two after was put to death. The real Earl of 
Warwick, who had been drawn into joining his fellow-pris- 
oner in an attempt to escape, was beheaded also ; Henry, 
perhaps, was glad of an excuse to get his only real rival out 
of the way, for this unfortunate young prince was the sole 
male descendant of the Plantagenets left. This execution 
was the only violent or cruel act of Henry's reign. 

Not only was the rule of Henry VII. quietly serviceable 

to the country, but the time itself was a most interesting 

one. The dawn of the new day, which had been 

gradually rising, from the days of Wyclif and The Ee " 
», J » ' J . J naissance. 

Chaucer onward, had grown very bright now. lhe 

old times were passing away, and new ones were beginning. 

This period at the close of the Wars of the Roses, as we 

have remarked, was the end of the middle ages, and the 

death of the feudal system. 

But if it was the death of one order of things, it was the 
life and new birth of others, as is expressed by the very 
name which this period often bears — the Renaissance, the 
being born again. In regard to art and learning, men now 
went back to classical times, which had been long buried 
and nearly forgotten, and, as it were, brought them to life 
again. And many new and wonderful things came to life 
now also, so that it was a time of great spirit and stir, full 
of eagerness, and anticipation, and wonder. 

We may almost say the world itself grew larger, as if to 
make room for the great hopes and designs of mankind, by 
the discovery of America. Hitherto only the con- 
tinents of Europe, Asia, and Africa had been ^f America 
known ; but now the two great Americas were 



880 Guest's ENGLISH HISTORY. 

added to the map of the world. At first, of course, only 
small parts were touched at and discovered; but whatever 

was seen and approached must have struck the imagination 
very forcibly. In America the mountains, rivers, and lakes 
are on a vast scale compared with those of Europe. Then 
there were the vast forests, the giant trees, the climbing 
plants, the flowers; the strange animals, lovely humming- 
birds, and uncouth alligators; and, again, the curious red- 
hued men, some savage, some civilized after a fashion of 
their own, with their religion, their temples, their arts, and 
history, and legends. In this region, too, there were great 
stores of gold, which has always had a fascination for the 
eyes of man. All this was very exciting and animating. It 
was really a new world opening. Never can we know what 
it was to find one's self on the brink of such a wonderland as 
America seemed for the first hundred years after its dis- 
covery. 

It would have been a matter of pride to Englishmen to 
have been able to say that England had the glory of discov- 
ering, or even helping to discover, this new world beyond 
the sea. It was almost by chance that she did not, as Chris- 
topher Columbus, having failed to get assistance in money 
or ships from Genoa, Portugal, and Spain, sent his brother 
Bartholomew to England, to see if its king would help him. 
Henry VII., although avaricious, was a very sagacious, sen- 
sible man, and was thought very highly of throughout 
Europe. 

Unfortunately, the brother of Columbus, in travelling to 
England, fell among thieves, or pirates, who stripped him of 
his raiment, so that when he reached London he had not a 
decent coat in which to appear at court. Before doing any- 
thing else he was obliged to try and earn monejr ; and this 
he did by drawing and selling maps. (This in itself shows a 
kind of intellectual activity among the people ; had they not 
taken some interest in geography, they would not have 
wanted Bartholomew's maps.) At last he contrived to get 
access to the king, laid before him his brother's schemes and 
ideas, and met with a favorable reception. Henry was quite 
sensible enough to see, what so few others could, how likely 
Columbus was to prove right. 

Columbus, it should be remembered, did not expect to 
discover a new world, but only to get round that way to 
India, and this was why the islands at which he first arrived 



THE RENAISSANCE. 881 

received the name of the " West Indies." People had long 
been convinced that the world was not, as the ancients had 
thought, flat like a plate, but was round like a globe ; and 
even two or three hundred years before this it had been 
thought possible to sail round it, though no one had ever 
ventured to do so. Some time before this the mariner's 
compass had been invented, by the help of which sailors 
might cross the sea, instead of only keeping near the land, 
as the early navigators used to do. 

Henry was favorably inclined to the scheme of Columbus, 
and, though he hesitated before making up his mind, it is 
quite possible that, but for Bartholomew's long delay, lie 
would have been the one to fit out the expedition. But 
meanwhile Columbus himself, not hearing any news from his 
brother, had gained the favor of Queen Isabella of Castile, 
and it was she who had the honor of fitting out the discov- 
erer of America. 

A few years afterwards Henry sent out an expedition to 
the new continent, headed by Sebastian Cabot, a 
Venetian, who had settled in England. He discov- 
ered many other parts of North America, and the island of 
Newfoundland — the parts which are now rilled with English- 
men. This we may call the first beginning of England's 
great colonial empire. The population was very small then 
compared to what it is now, and the land could maintain its 
people. Perhaps in all England there were about as many 
people as now live in London alone. Without the outlet of 
emigration it is hard to say what would have become of 
England's growing population. Now besides the vast repub- 
lic of the United States, which is largely English in blood, 
there are purely English colonies in America, Africa, Aus- 
tralia, New T Zealand, many of them far larger than their 
mother ; and, as was noticed before, the English language is 
spoken more widely and universally than any other in the 
world. And of all this the seeds were sown in Henry VII. 's 
reign. 

In the middle ages it was believed that the earth was fixed 
in the centre of all things, and the sun, and stars, and planets 
revolved around it, each in its own sphere. But 
about this time an astronomer named Copernicus, a °P ermcus - 
native of Prussia, arrived at a very different conclusion : he 
conceived and demonstrated the theory that the earth, is not 
fixed and immovable, and the centre of the universe, but a 



; ;.S2 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

planet like Mars, and Venus, and the others, and that they 
all revolve around the sun. This was a great discovery, and 
was the beginning of modern astronomy. 

Ages ago, and before Christ came, while the ancestors of 
the Germans, and French, and English were still wild sav- 
ages, there had been a great and civilized nation living in 
Greece. The most enlightened nations admit that 
karninV 3 *" ^ ne ^ ree ^ s were far higher in many respects than 
themselves. The human intellect seems never to 
haA-e attained a higher development than is shown in the 
poems of Homer, ^Eschvlus, and Euripides, the dialogues of 
Plato, the philosophy of Aristotle, the orations of Demos- 
thenes, and the history of Thucydides. 

The Greek architects left works which have been the 
deilght of the world for ages ; and their sculptors attained 
to a power and grace in the representation of the human 
figure which the highest genius in modern times is unable 
even to copy. 

Besides, the New Testament, as we know, was in Greek. 
But for many centuries nobody had been able to read all 
those wonderful books — the poetry, the history, or the phi- 
losophy. The Greek language was unknown ; only learned 
men knew Latin; and the Latin as it was used had become 
very bad and absurd. Mediaeval Latin is most unlike the 
Latin of Livy and Tacitus. The clergy looked on Greek as 
a wicked and heathenish language ; all they knew of the 
Bible was from an imperfect translation into Latin called 
the Vulgate ; all they knew of the philosophers, of Plato 
and Aristotle, Avas from translations made into Arabic, and 
then translated again into Latin, with notes added AAdiich 
often quite altered the sense. 

A great disaster befell Europe, Avhich Avas the taking of 
Constantinople by the Turks. For in spite of the Crusades 
which had been fought to drive the Mahometans out of 
Palestine, they had come steadily onAvai'd from Asia into 
Europe, taken possession of Turkey and Hungary, 
and established their capital at Constantinople, the 
city of Constantine, the first Christian emperor. Numbers 
of learned Greeks, being driven from their homes, came into 
Italy, and especially to Florence, where the people were 
alreadv very fond of literature and art, and taught them 
Greek! 

The Italians began to read those wonderful books which 



THE RENAISSANCE. 383 

had been hidden so long, and to take intense pleasure and 
delight in them. They began, too, to drop the mediaeval 
Latin of the monks, and to read the best books which the 
Romans had written in the time of Augustus. And we may 
imagine how busy the new printing-presses were, which 
seemed to have been invented at the right moment to help 
the busy scholars. The great Latin poet Virgil was printed 
in 1470, and the Greek Homer in 1488. 

This was called the Renaissance, or New Birth of learn- 
ing. Some of the wisest and best of the scholai's of Eng- 
land, hearing of its fame, travelled to Italy to learn Latin 
and Greek. The Renaissance of Art was nearly contempo- 
raneous. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE STATE OF RELIGION. 

Worldliness of the Church. The monasteries. The Oxford Reformers. The New 
Testament. Henry VIII. and Dean Colet. 

Among all the changes <>f this period, the most important 

for England was that which took place in religion. There 

were still some Lollards, who had some tenets like 

State of those of the Protestants, and every now and then 
religion. ., . . • 

some were cruelly put to death, and some were 

persuaded to deny their faith and recant ; but they were 
quite obscure, and not much noticed except to be put down. 
The Church, meanwhile, in England and elsewhere, had been 
going on from bad to worse. 

All observing and sensible men knew that the clergy, in- 
stead of being more honest and honorable than the best of 
the laity, were much less so. A very excellent 
The clergy. c ] er gyman, Colet, dean of St. Paul's, gave a large 
sum of money to found a school, and, of course, wanted 
what we now call ''trustees" to take care of it. But he 
would not appoint any clergyman, bishop, dean, or canon to 
this office; nor would he appoint any nobleman, but selected 
some married citizens of honest report. When he was asked 
his reason for this, he said that he found " less corruption in 
these men." This leads us to believe that the middle class 
of traders and citizens, which was so increasing in wealth 
and importance, was an upright and conscientious class. 

The Pope at this time was Alexander VI., whose family 
name was Borgia; he was the most wicked Pope that 
ever existed. The Italians and the world at large 
were horrified at his crimes. An Italian historian, 
writing of him after his death (which happened by poison 
which he had intended for some one else), calls him "the 
extinct serpent, who by his immoderate ambition, pestiferous 
perfidy, monstrous lust, and every sort of horrible cruelty 

3S4 



THE STATE OF RELIGION. 385 

and unexampled avarice, had compassed the destruction of 
so many persons." The next Pope, Julius II., was 
a great fighter, more like a soldier than a priest. 

The higher clergy, the cardinals, bishops, and abbots, were 
for the most part occupied in worldly affairs, in trying to 
gain the favor of the king, or in increasing their own splen- 
dor and luxury. We shall see an example of this sort of 
churchman in Cardinal Wolsey, who was one of the most 
eminent persons in the next reign. 

The lower clergy naturally followed the example of their 
superiors in a smaller way, and the power and influence they 
had over the laity they used greatly as a means to get money 
out of them. It is almost incredible how many and how 
shameless were their ways of doing this, by work- Confession 
ing at once on the religious fears and the sinful dis- and pen- 
positions of their flocks. What most men cared ance * 
for was to escape punishment in a future life, and yet not 
have to be inconveniently pious or self-denying in this world. 
When a man had done anything wrong and confessed it, he 
would be ordered to do penance before he could be absolved ; 
but if he did not like the penance, he might pay money in- 
stead, and would be absolved just the same. This was very 
convenient to a rich man, who escaped punishment, and very 
pleasant to the priest, who received the money. 

The Church forbade eating meat on fast days, but rich 
people who did not like fish might get dispensations from 
fasting by paying for them. The Church forbade 
relations, even rather distant cousins, to intermarry, Dispensa- 
but if they were rich they could easily get permis- 
sion to marry, as Richard III. expected to be allowed to 
marry his own niece. 

The bishops' courts had been founded for the improve- 
ment of morality, and in them the Church could take notice 
of offences which were not punished by the law The 
of the land. In old times these courts* had done bishops* 
good ; for instance, they often punished a man for courts - 
cruelty to his slaves ; but now they too had become a ready 
means for getting money. If a man in a moment of passion 
spoke a disrespectful word about his priest, he might be 
called before the court and fined ; if he would not pay the 
fine, he might be excommunicated. When a man was excom- 
municated, no friend might show him kindness, or even 
speak to him ; no tradesman might sell him food or clothes ; 



386 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY, 

and if he died he was refused the last sacraments, and the 
burial of a Christian. People were very slow to offend the 
clergy, and would pay almost anything to keep on good 
terms with them. 

Another way of raising money was to send people on pil- 
grimages, as, for example, to Becket's shrine, or to a holy 
well or some miraculous image, to get forgiveness 
aee g s rim " ^ or tne i r sms - But every one knew that it was of 
no use to go empty-handed. "The rule of the 
Church," says Fronde, " was, Nothing for nothing." 

" There was a great rood or crucifix (including an image 
of Christ) at Boxley, in Kent, where the pilgrims went in 
thousands. This figure used to bow, too, when it was 
pleased, and a good sum of money was sure to secure its 
good will. When the Reformation came, and the police 
looked into the matter, the images were found to be worked 
with wires and pulleys." The crucifix from Boxley was 
brought up to London, and exhibited in Cheapside, where 
it was torn to pieces by the people. 

Purgatory, as is well known, is held to be an intermediate 

place between heaven and hell, where men are purged and 

purified by terrible punishments. The mediaeval 

rga ory * writers gave most horrifying descriptions of pur- 
gatory. Dante, the great Italian poet, indeed drew a wide 
distinction between it and hell, though even he said the i-ouls 
there were chastised with blindness, fire, and smoke. 

There was a very famous cave in Ireland called St. Pat- 
rick's Hole, in which it was said that a view of purgatory 
might be obtained. Froissart fell in with a knight who, 
with a friend of his, had entered this cave. "I asked him," 
he writes, " if there were any foundation in truth for what 
was said of St. Patrick's Hole. He replied that there was, 
and that he and another knight had been there. They 
entered it at sunset, remained there the whole night, and 
came out at sunrise the next morning." But when Froissart 
requested further to be told whether he saw all the mar- 
vellous things which Mere to be seen there, he heard that 
the two knights were fast asleep the whole night. But as 
they looked upon this as a supernatural sleep, and " ima- 
gined that they saw more in their dreams than they would 
have done if they had been in their beds," their faith was 
not at all shaken. 

It was supposed that no one but a great saint went at 



THE STATE OF RELIGION. 387 

once to heaven after death ; but no baptized person, unless 
excommunicated, perished for ever; so that almost every- 
one went to purgatory ; and a priest could release him by 
saying a certain number of masses, which were to be 
paid for. 

Who could refuse money to release his dearest friend 
or relation from years of misery ? 

The monasteries had been founded as homes of special 
holiness and purity, but they too had many of them changed 
sorely for the worse. So bad, indeed, had some be- 
come, that even the Pope and the archbishop every H°" as " 
now and then felt obliged to take some notice. For 
example : there was a famous abbey at St. Alban's, now the 
seat of a bishop, but which, in the days of Henry VII., was 
a rich monastery. 

The abbot and the monks were so scandalously wicked 
that even the Pope heard of it. This was Pope Innocent 
VIII. He heard that they had neglected all the good old 
customs — religious meditation, almsgiving, and hospitality; 
they had Masted the revenues and destroyed the property, 
and had stolen the sacred vessels, the chalices and jewels, 
from the church, and even the precious stones from the 
shrine of the martyr Alban. They lived most shameful and 
wicked lives ; and, if any of the brethren tried to be religious 
and just, those the abbot hated and kept down. 

The Pope commissioned Cardinal Morton to make inquir- 
ies about these charges, and to correct and reform 
as might seem good to him. On inquiry Morton 
found all the charges to be true ; there seems to have been 
hardly any attempt at denying them. It might have been 
expected, therefore, that this shameless abbot would be 
deposed, and the monks severely punished. But though 
Morton did certainly write a strong letter of reproof, still 
he took no other measures whatever, only inviting the abbot 
to consider his way*! and amend them if possible. 

This, it is to be feared, is only a sample of what many of the 
monasteries were, and especially the smaller ones ; and Ave 
can judge that if things were come to such a condition, and 
this was all the Pope or the archbishop could or would do 
in the way of reform, somebody else would be likely to take 
up the matter before long. When things in this world be- 
come intolerably bad, there is always the consolation of 
knowing that their end must be near. 



388 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

In this time of the Renaissance, what with the invention 
of printing, the spread of books and- of reading, the study of 

the old Latin and Greek philosophers, the age of 
and g the ignorance was passing away. In Italy, where the 
new learn- Renaissance first began, where people were quick 

and gay, and where they also knew the wickedness 
of the Roman court, some of the new scholars, in casting 
away the corruptions of Christianity, cast away Christianity 

itself. They were so delighted with the writings 
ay " of the poets and sages of heathen times that they 
turned half heathens themselves. The painters, who had 
almost always painted scenes from the Bible, or the lives of 
saints, or Madonnas and apostles, began to paint pictures of 
Bacchus, and Venus, and Cupid. They seem to have wa- 
vered between Christianity and paganism, or not to have 
believed really in either, but only amused themselves with 
both. And in this way the Renaissance, being separated 
from religion, wrought a sad change. 

In England the scholars who took up with the new learn- 
ing were religious and holy men. They saw clearly how 
corrupt Christianity had become, but they were too wise not 

to see how noble and divine a thing true Chris- 
land ng " tianity is. They endeavored to cast off the extra- 
neous additions, and to find out what Christianity 
was in the mind of Christ and the apostles. 

The principal of these early reformers were three men, 
two of whom, Colet and More, were Englishmen, while the 
third, Erasmus, was a Dutchman ; and as, for a time, they 
all worked together at Oxford, they are often called the 
Oxford Reformers. They had full opportunity to see the evil 
condition of religion. They knew how covetous the clergy 

were, and how bad the monasteries were. Eras- 
Erasmus mus » indeed, had been a monk himself for a time. 

Colet and Erasmus went together on a pilgrimage 
to Canterbury. 

Erasmus, who was a brilliant man, wrote the account of 
their visit to the splendid shrine of Becket, with its rich 
gildings and jewels, where, as it was believed, so many mira- 
cles had been worked, and which had been regarded with so 
much veneration by all people. 

Erasmus was amused; Colet was indignant. When they 
beheld the magnificent treasures which the verger showed 
them with much pride, and " before which Croesus himself 



THE STATE OF RELIGION. 389 

might have seemed a beggar," Erasmus says he could not 
help feeling " sacrilegious regret, for which he begged pardon 
of the saint before he left the church, that none of those 
gifts adorned his own homely mansion." Colet remarked 
that he would have supposed St. Thomas would far rather 
have seen some of these vast treasures given to the poor. 
The verger began to grow angry, and had half a mind to 
turn them out of the church. When they were shown the 
bones, and skulls, and dirty rags which were guarded and 
revered, Colet would not kiss any of them, and indeed 
showed so much contempt and impatience that Er-osmus felt 
quite ashamed of his friend's bad manners. But when an 
old man brought them with great ceremony the upper 
leather of a shoe to kiss, saying it was St. Thomas's shoe, 
Colet's anger broke all bounds. "What!" he said, "do 
these asses expect us to kiss the old shoes of all good men 
Who have ever lived?" and rode away in much disgust. 

Colet and Erasmus hoped for a quiet reformation, and not 
a great revolution such as really took place. They longed 
for every one to read and understand the Bible, which had 
been so lono- forbidden, and took all possible pains 
to spread it. Hitherto not only were the laity de- 
barred from reading the Bible, but the clergy had not tried 
to expound its real meaning, according to the natural sense 
of the words, but had put into it curious and fanciful mean- 
ings of their own. But now Colet, reading it first in its own 
original Greek, instead of in the Latin translation, taught 
and explained it simply and naturally in lectures and in ser- 
mons, especially the Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul. 

Erasmus published a new and corrected edition of the New 
Testament, which was printed in thousands and spread all 
over Europe. He said he should wish every one, " even the 
weakest woman, to read the Gospels. I wish they should be 
translated into all languages, so that they might be read and 
understood not only Ity Scots and Irishmen, but even by Turks 
and Saracens." At that time the Scotch and Irish were far 
behind the English in learning and civilization, and we know 
what was thought of Turks and Saracens. "I long," he 
goes on, " that the husbandman should sing portions of them 
to himself as he follows the plough, that the weaver should 
hum them to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveller should 
beguile with their stories the tedium of his journey." 

Colet, who after living a long time at Oxford was made 



390 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

doan of St. Paul's, and who was a rich man, spent nearly all 
his fortune in founding a school in which boys should be 
taught Latin and Greek, and, above all, true religion and the 
love of Christ. It was he who chose his trustees among 
"the married citizens of good report;" and St. Paul's 
School, which he founded, is still one of the most famous 
public schools. Other good and rich men followed his 
example, and founded grammar schools in various parts of 
England, many of which are still doing their good work. 

These men did not wish for a separation from the "church 
universal;" they rather hoped that the whole Christian 
Church might remain united by a thorough and peaceful 
reform in all its ranks. Their hope was not realized, beau- 
tiful as it was. The Popes and the high authorities would 
not reform ; no gentle means would avail. A great deal of 
roughness and violence, a great many meaner and more 
worldly motives, had to come in and take part. And, after 
all, the Christian world was torn asunder, and only a portion 
of it accepted the Reformation. Slill there was a change 
even in the countries which continued attached to the Papal 
Church, and the religion of educated Catholics now is very 
different from the superstition and credulity of the middle 
ages. Nor are the clergy of that church any longer worldly 
and avaricious, as in former times. 

England was one of the countries which heartily embraced 
the Protestant Reformation, but this was hardly begun as 
yet. In the midst of the work of the Oxford Re- 
Henrv VIII f° nners > Henry VII. died, and was succeeded by 
' his son, Henry VIII. , who was about eighteen 
years old. In his reign the work of the Reformation wont 
on at a quicker pace, though not in such a lofty and disinter- 
ested spirit. 

The new Henry was a great contrast to his father, who 
had grown tyrannical, and still more miserly than of old. 
He was gay, handsome, and clever, and lit once became very 
popular. He was well educated, fond of books and of bril- 
liant men, fond of splendor and magnificence, fond of fame 
and glory, and fondest of all, like his father and all his 
family, of his own will. At first that did not seem to matter 
much, and a little wilfulness is easily forgiven to a young 
prince. One of the first things he did was to punish with 
death his father's instruments of tyranny, Empson and Dud- 
ley, which gave great satisfaction to the people. He soon 



THE STATE OF RELIGION. 391 

wished to distinguish himself in war, and mingled in foreign 
affairs for no particular reason apparently, except in hopes of 
winning fame. He went to France and took a few 
towns, and won a battle in which the French ran 
away so fast that it got the name of the " Battle of the Spurs." 
The Oxford Reformers were clearly convinced of the 
wickedness of going to war except on the strongest Co i et - s 
grounds. They knew what misery it caused the sermon on 
people, and they held that no king had a right to war> 
seek glory at such a cost. Just before Henry was going to 
start upon the French expedition, on a Good Friday, Dean 
Colet had to preach a sermon before him and the courtiers. 
Whilst the king and his followers were full of their ambi- 
tious hopes of glory, Colet took the opportunity of preach- 
ing a bold and outspoken sermon against war, exhorting 
them to fight under the banner of Christ, their heavenly 
King, and saying that " they who either through hatred, 
ambition, or covetousness, do fight with evil men, and so kill 
one another, fight not under the banner of Christ, but the 
devil." It is Erasmus himself, Colet's friend, who tells the 
story. " And," he goes on, " he had so many other smart pas- 
sages to this purpose, that his Majesty was somewhat afraid 
lest this sermon would dishearten his soldiers. Hereupon all 
the birds of prey flocked about Colet like an owl, hoping the 
king would be incensed upon him." For, like all reformers, 
Colet had plenty of enemies. But we shall see that at this 
time, at least, Henry was generous and candid, and knew a 
good man when he saw him. " His Majesty commands 
Colet to come before him at Greenwich. He goes into the 
garden of the monastery of the Franciscans, which was near, 
and presently dismisseth his attendants. When they two 
were alone, the king bid Colet cover his head and speak his 
mind freely; and then his Highness began thus : 'Dean, be 
not surprised with needless fear; I did not send for you 
hither to disturb your most holy labors (which I resolve to 
cherish as much as I can), but to unload my conscience of 
some scruples, and to desire your advice concerning my 
duty.' The conference lasted almost an hour and a half. 
In the mean while Bricot (the Franciscan bishop) was in the 
court stark wild, hoping that Colet had been in great danger, 
whereas the king and he agreed in every particular very 
well. . . . When they returned from the garden to the 
court, the king, being about to dismiss Colet, called for a 



392 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

cup, and drank to him, embracing him most kindly, and, 
promising him all the favors that could be expected from a 
most loving prince, dismissed him. And now the courtiers 
standing round the king expected to hear the issue of this 
long conference ; and the king, in the hearing of them all, 
said, ' Well, let other men choose what doctors they please, 
and make much of them; this man shall be my doctor.' 
Whereupon Bricot, with the rest of the gaping wolves, 
departed, and from that day forward never dared trouble 
Colet any more." 

Still it is to be feared that the effect of the sermon was 
rather like that of St. Anthony to the fishes.* Much the 
same, too, may be said of the wise words of Sir Thomas 

More, the youngest of the Oxford Reformers, and 
More h ° maS l )erna P s the. best beloved. It was he who wrote the 

lives of Edward Y. and Richard III., from which we 
have already quoted. lie afterwards [tut his thoughts about 
government, and education, and social life into a most 
charming little book. His ideas on those topics were so dif- 
ferent from the facts he saw about him that he was obliged 
to invent a country where they could be realized. In that 
country war was detested; pomp and luxury were despised; 
gold and silver were used to make chains and fetters for 
criminals ; pearls and diamonds were the toys and ornaments 
of children. But the things which really make life happy 
were shared in abundance by all. Every one had a pleasant 
house and a beautiful garden ; every one knew how to read 
and write, and had leisure,to do so. No one was allowed to 
Avork too hard; no one was allowed to be idle; no one quar- 
relled about his religion, nor was any one punished on 
account of it. The rulers ruled for the sake of the people, 
to make them wise, safe, and happy, and not for any pride 
or profit of their own. 

This land was a distant island far away in the southern 
seas. It was called Utopia, or "the Land of Nowhere." It 
has furnished the language with an expressive adjective 
which conservatives are fond of employing. 

* " The sermon now ended. 

To his business each wended; 
The pikes to their thieving, 
The eels to good living; 

Much delighted were they, 

But went on the old way." 



CHAPTER XLI. 

THE HEAD OF THE CHUECH. 

Cardinal Wolsey. His rise and greatness. Henry and Katherine. Fall of Wol- 
sey. The Pope's supremacy renounced. The king declared head of the 
Church. Deaths of More and Fisher. 

While Henry was in France, winning a few easy victories 
which did no good whatever to the country, the Scotch, as 
usual, took the opportunity of quarrelling with Eng- 
land, and the great battle of Flodden Field was Battle of 
fought, in which the English wiped away the dis- jP od d den 
grace of Bannockburn by entirely defeating the 
Scotch, and of which we can read an animated account in 
" Marmion." In this battle the Scotch king and many of 
the highest nobles of the land were killed. 

Some time after this, England and France made peace, and 
the two kings met. There was a young king of France as 
well as of England, and their interview was of a very differ- 
ent kind from that of Edward IV. and the French king 
through the gratings on the bridge. This royal meeting 
was so splendid that it was called the " Field of the 
Cloth of Gold." There were tournaments and 151 
shows, plenty of compliments and embraces, and the two 
young kings called each other brothers. But no great good 
came of it at all, for in another year or two the two sworn 
brothers went to war again. 

The man who guided and advised King Henry in all 
matters, great and email, was the clever, proud, and worldly 
churchman, Cardinal Wolsey. A man even of the 
lowest class, if he had talents and capabilities, sey ' 

might rise to the highest rank in the Church, so as to be 
equal and even superior to monarchs. Wolsey was one who 
rose thus. His life was written by a gentleman in his ser- 
vice ; for in those days great lords and bishops had many 
gentlemen in their households who were proud to be called 
their servants. Cavendish tells us that his master was " an 

30:; 



394 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

honest poor man's sonne of Ipswich ; " he is apparently too 
delicate to say that, in fact, he was the son of a butcher. 

The child appearing to have a fine mind, he received an 
excellent education, and went very young to Oxford, where 
he did so well that he took his degree at fifteen 
is rise. y ears f a g- e , a]K | was known at the university as 
the Boy Bachelor. By his talents and industry he got on 
in the world, and by and by came to be chaplain to Henry 
VII., and was much noticed. Henry wished to send a mes- 
sage to the Emperor Maximilian, who was at that time in 
Flanders ; and his counsellors recommended as messenger 
this chaplain Wolsey, whom it does not seem the king had 
ever noticed before. The king conversed with him, "per- 
ceived his wit to be very tine," and gave him his instruc- 
tions. From London to Brussels in those days was a long 
and difficult journey. Most of it had to be done on h< use- 
back, with relays of post-horses ; and there was generally a 
good deal of waiting. But Wolsey made such excellent 
arrangements that he waited nowhere. He travelled night 
and day, caught the Calais boat at the right moment, saw r 
the emperor, arranged the business, and came back again. 
All this he did so quickly that, supposing he left the king at 
Richmond on Monday at twelve o'clock, he returned Thurs- 
day night, and saw the king on Friday morning as he came 
out of his bed-room. 

The king rebuked him "for that he was not on his jour- 
ney;" and when he found that he had already been and 
come back again, "he rejoiced inwardly not a little, and 
gave him princely thanks." This was the beginning of 
Wolsey's high favor. He had shown such zeal and indus- 
try, "such excellent wit," and had managed the whole affair 
so w r ell, that he was made dean of Lincoln, and from that 
time continually rose higher and higher. When Henry VIII. 
became king, he at once made Wolsey one of his chief coun- 
sellors. Henry loved his own will, but at the same time, 
being still young, he loved pleasure better than business. 
Wolsey soon perceived that the only way he could hope to 
rise as he intended would be by helping the king to indulge 
those tastes. All he* aimed at was "to advance the king's 
only will and pleasure, having no respect unto the cause." 

Wolsey was quite willing to work ; no trouble was too 
great for him; he did all the king wanted, took all the labor 
on himself, and so let the king have leisure to amuse him- 



THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 395 

self, and yet got everything done as he wished. Thus Wol- 
sey got enormous power into his own hands ; he was at the 
head of all the affairs of the country ; he had charge of the 
royal treasury, and, being lord chancellor, he was the high- 
est judge in the kingdom. He was also supreme in the 
Church, and had all the bishops, abbots, and clergy under 
his control. With all this he still only worked as He becomes 
the king's servant, and to carry out his will. He chancellor, 
received in return enormous rewards, pensions, p, and 
bishopries, and all sorts of wealth. He was lord cardinal, 
chancellor, archbishop of York, and a cardinal. He hoped 
to be Pope in due time ; nothing seemed too great for him 
to aim at. 

He now lived in wonderful style. In his household, at- 
tending on him, and holding various offices, were a good 
number of lords and gentleman, and under them 
innumerable servants of all degrees, clerks of the H n eis r(i " 
kitchen, yeomen of the scullery, yeomen of his 
chariot and his stirrup, cup-bearers, carvers, and grooms. 
His head cook " went daily in velvet or in satin, with a 
chain of gold." He had doctors, and chaplains, and choris- 
ters innumerable, filling two or three large pages of Cavern 
dish's book. When he went out in the morning his cardinal's 
hat was borne before him "by a lord or some gentleman of 
worship right solemnly ; " also two great crosses. "Then 
cried the gentlemen ushers, going before him bareheaded, 
and said, 'On before, my lords and masters, on before, and 
make way for my lord cardinal.' Thus went he down 
through the hall, with a sergeant-of-arms before him bearing 
a great mace of silver, and two gentlemen carrying two 
great pillars of silver ; and when he came to the hall door, 
then his mule stood caparisoned in crimson velvet, with a 
saddle of the same, and gilt stirrups. There were attending 
upon him when he w r as mounted his two cross-bearers, and 
his pillar-bearers, in like case, upon great horses decked in 
fine scarlet. Then marched he forward with a train of 
noblemen and gentlemen, having his footmen, four in num- 
ber, about him, bearing each of them a gilt pole-axe in their 
hands, and thus passed he forth until he came to Westmin- 
ster Hall door." With all this display, it is satisfactory to 
know that " there he spared neither high nor low, but judged 
every estate according to his merits and deserts." Nor did 
he forget his old home, nor his old university, nor the good 



396 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

education which had helped him to vise. With a true gen- 
erosity, he wished to give other men the same opportunities, 
and he founded a good school at Ipswich, and a college at 
Oxford, which was at first called Cardinal College ; but the 
name was afterwards changed to Christ Church, and that 
grand building, with its magnificent staircase, is a fitting 
memorial of the lordly Wolsey. 

His houses were palaces fit for a king. One of them was 
Hampton Court, the other was Whitehall. They were 
filled with magnificent furniture, costly hangings, beds of 
silk (Cavendish says there were two hundred and eighty beds 
at Hampton Court), rich arras and tapestry work, gold and 
silver plate in profusion. We cannot help wondering wheth- 
er, now that people had begun to read the New Testament, 
they ever contrasted all this state with the humble lodging 
and living of Peter the fisherman, or Paul the tent-maker, or 
the Master of them all. 

In the midst of the splendid ceremonies of the Roman 
Catholic Church, sometimes on special occasions, a very sig- 
nificant custom is observed ; it is as if a thought of mortality, 
a cold wind of warning, blows through the soul. At the 
coronation of a pope, for instance, when golden lamps are 
glittering' everywhere, the air filled with music and incense, 
the bishops and archbishops in sumptuous apparel, may be 
seen hanging in the midst of the church an iron cresset with 
a quantity of flax twisted round it. At one point in the 
service this is set on fire, while the choristers sing, "Sic 
transit gloria mundi."* It blazes up brightly for a moment, 
and then it is gone. Had Wolsey ever seen this ceremony ? 
The time was drawing near when his glory would pass 
away. 

It was during Henry VIII.'s reign that the Reformation 
in Germany began under Martin Luther, and we must sup- 

„ T . TTT pose that Luther's writings, his bold words and 
Henry VIII. ' cc , ° • • t • t? 

and the Re- deeds, had a great effect on mens minds in tLng- 
formation. ] ai)C "[. The king took much interest in these 
matters, and, though he liked Colet, he was still decidedly in 
favor of the Pope, and against Luther. He wrote a book on 
the subject, which pleased the Pope so much that he gave 
him the title of Defensor Fidei, Defender of the Faith ; 
which our kings and queens have borne ever since, though, 

* So passes away the glory of the world. 



THE HEAD OF THE CHUKCH. -J*. >7 

as most of them have been Protestants, it has had no es- 
pecial significance. 

But after a time Henry began to alter his views about the 
Pope, and it was then that meaner and lower motives came 
into play, and helped to bring the Reformation into Eng- 
land. Henry had been married, as a matter of 
public policy, while still a boy, to Katherine of Catherine 
Aragon, the young widow of his brother Arthur. 
It is not likely that he ever loved her much, she being forced 
upon him in his childhood, and being some years older than 
himself. Put she was a good woman ; gentle, patient, and 
queenly; no one could ever breathe a word against her. 
Henry and she had many children, but only one, a daughter, 
lived ; the others died at birth. Henry, who very much 
wished for a son, began to think, or said he thought, that his 
losing his children was a mark of God's anger against the 
marriage, — she being his brother's widow. 

Wolsey at first favored this idea. He wished the king to 
be at peace with France instead of with Spain, and lie 
thought if Henry were separated from his Spanish wife he 
might marry a French one, which would help his own 
projects. 

It was no very easy thing to get rid of Queen Catherine. 
Henry had been king more than twenty years, and she had 
been his acknowledged and blameless wife all that 
time. The former Pope had given a dispensation TJf Pope's 
to permit the marriage. Henry could not be di- 
vorced unless the present Pope allowed it. The Pope did 
not want to offend Henry, who had written a book in his 
favor, and was so great a king. But neither did he want to 
offend Katherine's relations, especially her nephew, Charles 
V., who, besides being king of Spain, was emperor of Ger- 
many, and the most powerful sovereign in the world, and 
who had also taken his part against Luther. 

He would say nothing definite, and Henry grew impatient. 
For besides his religious and conscientious scruples, such as 
they w r ere, he had fallen in love with another lady, whom he 
was determined to marry, and this made him more than ever 
bent on being freed from Katherine. But when Wolsey 
found that instead of marrying the French princess, 
the king intended to marry Anne Boleyn, who, it gjf® 
appears, was a charming and attractive girl, though 
not a very good or high-minded one, he changed his mind, 



398 GUEST'S ENGLISH H1STOEY. 

and ceased to wish for the divorce which he had advocated 
before, and Anne Boleyn thereupon became his mortal 
enemy. He had hoped in the onset to please his own king 
and the king of France ; but, as Fuller says, " instead of 
gaining the love of two kings, he got the implacable anger 
of two queens." 

Wolsey accordingly fell into disgrace, and was stripped of 

1529 all his pomp and power. The pretext for doing this 
Wolsey's was a very mean one, namely, that he had acted as 
disgrace. ^ e Pope's legate without the special permission of 
the king. This, it is quite true, was an offence against the 
law of the land; for one of the ways in which the kings of 
England had tried to maintain their own power, and keep 
down that of the Pope, had been by the law passed in the 
days of Richard II., called the Statute of Pra?munire, which 
forbade any one to introduce bulls or to exercise authority 
for the Pope. 

But as Wolsey had all along been acting in concert with 
the king, and nothing had ever been said about this statute, 
it was very unworthy in Henry to turn round and use it 
against him now that he was out of favor. Wolsey sub- 
mitted without any resistance. All his riches, the gold and 
silver phlte, all the cloth of gold, cloth of silver, velvet, 
satin, damask, tufted taffeta, which delighted the soul of 
his servant Cavendish, were given up to the king. So were 
his palaces at Whitehall and at Hampton Court. Then he 
had to break up his great household, and a sad parting took 
place between him and his servants. He had always been a 
kind and generous master; and when he had to say farewell, 
Cavendish tells us that, "beholding this goodly number of 
his servants, he could not speak unto them, until the tears 
ran down his cheeks, which few tears, perceived by his 
servants, caused the fountains of water to gush out of their 
faithful eyes in such sort as it would cause a cruel heart to 
lament." 

Soon after this he was sent into what he doubtless looked 
upon as banishment, namely, to his archbishopric of York. 
"His enemies," says Fuller, "got the king to command him 
away to York, sending him thither whither his conscience 
long since should have sent him, namely, to visit his diocese, 
so large in extent, and reside therein." Sir Thomas More 
was made lord chancellor in his stead. 

While in this retirement in the north, Wolsey seems to 



THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 399 

have acted worthily, and really to have given his attention 
to the affairs of his diocese. He was not left there long, 
however; he was charged with high treason, and summoned 
to London. His proud heart was broken. When he got as 
far as Leicester Abbey he was so ill that he could hardly sit 
upon his mule. The abbot and all the brethren received him 
with great reverence, but he said, " Father Abbot, 
I am come hither to leave my bones among you." 
And as he lay dying, and perhaps looked back over his 
strange life, beginning at the time when he was a poor 
man's son, through all his ambition and his industry, and 
power and splendor, he said, "If I had served my God as 
diligently as I have served my king, He would not have 
given me over in my gray hairs." 

Meanwhile the affair of the king's divorce from Queen 
Ivatherine was dragging wearily on. She behaved with a 
queenly and a womanly spirit ; nothing would induce her to 
own herself anything but Henry's lawful wife. The Pope 
delayed, and played fast and loose, as before. He wished 
somebody would decide the matter without referring it to 
him at all. He declared that he was not learned in the law, 
and said, in a kind of humorous despair, that though there 
was a saying that the Pope has all laws locked within his 
own breast, yet, for his part, God had never given him the 
key to open that lock. 

At last, after delaying and doubting for seven years, 
Henry cut the knot. He privately married Anne 1533 
Boleyn, having induced the Archbishop of Canter- The king 
bury and some other English bishops to declare the Anne ie 
former marriage void, without waiting any longer Bole y n > 
for the Pope's decision. 

But a much more important step was taken, for now the 
king and his Parliament, lords, bishops, and commons, de- 
clared that the Pope should have no more author- 
ity in England, and that the king of England was ^Irfdhead 
supreme head both of Church and State. Thus {& the h 
the long quarrel, which had been going on at 
intervals since the days of William the Conqueror, was 
settled at last, and England and her king were free from 
the rule of the foreigner. 

This was at first only a political Reformation ; it was 
only a question of power and authority, not of religion or 
faith. Henry still meant to be " Defender of the Faith," 



400 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY, 

and to maintain all the doctrines of the Church, of which he 
Mould he a sort of island Pope. And as by this time a 
great many people held other doctrines, such as Colet and 
Erasmus had taught, and such as Luther was teaching, lie 
and his Parliament were very severe in punishing heretics. 
Wolsey, in his day of power, had been averse to cruelty, 
and liked better to frighten the heretics, by making them 
carry fagots, which were burnt, than to burn the men 
themselves. But after his disgrace several famous men 
were put to death ; and it is very sad to have to own that 
one of the persecutors was Sir Thomas More, who had begun 
by being almost a Protestant himself, and who had been so 
liberal and gentle in former days. But he had been 
Pe t r ion CU " shocked by Luther's boldness and defiant spirit, and 
so, indeed, had Erasmus also. They had both wished 
for a gradual reform ; and Sir Thomas More now turned 
against those whom one would have thought he would have 
sympathized with and protected, and, like Saul, he consented 
unto their death. But when his own turn came, he too was 
ready to give up his life for the sake of his conscience. 

At this period a large portion of English history is occu- 
pied with an account of the deaths of those who suffei-ed 
for their faith. In those days men cared very much for 
their faith. They knew exactly what they believed, they 
were sure it was true, and they loved it passionately; and 
they knew also what they disbelieved, they were sure it was 
a lie, and they hated it as passionately. They were ready 
to lay down their lives sooner than their faith. It is per- 
haps needless to add that this sharp boundary of dogma is 
not only unknown to-day, but inconceivable. 

After the invention of printing and the translation of the 
Bible, everybody began to study theology. Hitherto people 
were obliged to be content with hearing what the priests 
chose to tell them, and the Church had set itself against 
laymen reading the Scriptures for themselves. But when 
the Bible was spread abroad, and everyone had it in his own 
hands, he could not but begin to think for himself, and to 
compare what he read with what he heard. In other words, 
he could not help exercising "private judgment." And 
many men, having once made up their minds, were ready 
and willing to give their bodies to be burned. 

Protestants are justly proud of Protestant martyrs, and 
of their noble lives and deaths; but it must not be forgot- 



THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH. 401 

ten that there were good and true men on the other side 
too, who honestly thought they were right, and who also 
died nobly. One such was Sir Thomas More ; an- 
other was Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. They still Deaths' of 
held that the Pope was the head of the Church, and g. r h e e * nd 
both were beheaded for denying the king's suprem- 
acy. Fisher, who was the old friend of Erasmus and More, 
was a great contrast to those splendid and pompous prelates, 
who had wandered so far from primitive Christianity. lie 
was good, grave, and unworldly, " honored for his learning, 
and admired for his holy conversation." While he was still 
in the king's favor, it had been proposed to promote him 
from his bishopric of Rochester to a much richer one, either 
Ely or Lincoln, but he refused the offer, saying, according to 
Fuller, " he would not change his little old wife to whom he 
had been so long wedded for a wealthier." It was said that 
when he fell into disgrace some soldiers, " coming to seize 
on his supposed wealth, found nothing at all belonging to 
him save a great barred chest. These, from the facing of 
iron, concluded the lining thereof silver at least ; and having 
broken it open, found therein nothing but sackcloth and a 
whip, which put them all to penance, and soundly lashed 
their covetous expectation." 

Being charged with high treason for denying the king's 
supremacy, the aged bishop was committed to the Tower, 
and after a time beheaded. The story of his death is very 
beautifully told by Fuller, who was a hearty, even a vehe- 
ment Protestant, but yet could see what was good in those 
from whom he differed. When the lieutenant of the Tower 
came to awaken his prisoner, and to announce to him that 
he was to suffer death that morning, he received the news 
very quietly, and begged he might still have an hour or 
two's rest, as he had slept but ill that night. " Not," he 
said, "for any fear of death, but by reason of my great in- 
firmity and weakness." Then, " falling again to rest, he 
slept soundly two hours and more, and after he was awaked 
called to his man to help him up ; but first commanded him 
to take away his shirt of hair, which customably he wore, 
and to convey it privily out of the house, and instead 
thereof to lay him a clean white shirt, and all the best ap- 
parel he had, as cleanly brushed as might be. And as lie was 
arraying himself, his man, seeing in him more curiosity and 
care for the tine and cleanly wearing of his apparel that day 



•102 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

than was wont, demanded of him what this sudden change 

meant, saying that his lordship knew well enough that he 
must put off all again within two hours, and lose it. ' What 
of that?' said he. 'Dost not thou mark that this is our 
marriage day, and that it behoveth us therefore to use more 
cleanliness for solemnity thereof ? ' . . . And with that, tak- 
ing a little book in his hand, which was a New Testament, 
lying by him, he made a cross on his forehead, and went out 
of his prison door with the lieutenant, being so weak as that 
he was scant able to go down the stairs ; wherefore, at the 
stairs' foot he was taken up in a chair between two of the 
lieutenant's men, and carried to the Tower gate. . . . And 
as they were coming to the uttermost precincts of the liber- 
ties of the Tower, they rested there with him a space, till 
such time as one was sent before to know in what readiness 
the sheriffs were to receive him; during which space he rose 
out of his chair, and standing on his feet, leaned his shoulder 
to the wall, and lifting his eyes toward heaven, he opened 
the little book in his hand and said, ' O Lord, this is the last 
time that ever I shall open this book; let some comfortable 
place now chance unto me, whereby I, Thy poor servant, 
may glorify Thee in this my last hour.' And with that, 
looking into the book, the first thing that came to his sight 
were these words (in Latin), 'This is life eternal, that they 
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, 
whom Thou hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth, 
I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.' 
And with that he shut the book together, and said, 'Here is 
even learning enough for me to my life's end.' . . . When 
he was come to the foot of the scaffold, they that carried 
him offered to help him up the stairs, but said he, * Nay, 
masters, seeing I am come so far, let me alone, and ye shall 
see me shift for myself well enough;' and he went up the 
stairs, without any help, so lively that it was a marvel to 
them that before knew his debility and weakness. But as 
lie was mounting the stairs the south-east sun sinned very 
bright in his face, whereupon he said to himself these words, 
lifting up his hands, 'Ye shall look unto Him and be light- 
ened, and your faces shall not be ashamed.' " 

After saying to the assembled people that he was come to 
die for the faith of Christ's Holy Catholic Church, and pray- 
ing for his king and his country, "he kneeled down and said 
certain prayers. . . . Then came the executioner, and bound 



THE HEAD OE THE CHURCH. 403 

a handkerchief about his eyes; and so the bishop, lifting his 
hands and heart to heaven, said a few prayers, which were 
not long, but fervent and devout ; which being ended, he 
laid his head down over the midst of a little block, where 
the executioner, being ready with a sharp and heavy axe, 
cut asunder his slender neck at one blow." 

Thus there was no longer any hope of a peaceful Reforma- 
tion. Many another sainted head would fall, on either side, 
before Christians could learn how in this imperfect world 
they might dwell together in unity, each holding his own 
faith, and yet each loving his brother who held another. 



CHAPTER XLII. 



THE REFORMERS. 



Cranmer and Cromwell. The English Bible. Tyndale. The New Testament 
burnt at St. Paul's. The Bible published by authority. Dissolution of the 
monasteries. Death of Henry VIII. 

After the fall of Wolsey, the chief advisers and support- 
ers of the king were two very remarkable men. One of 
these was Cranmer, who had been made Arch- 
Cranmer. bishop of Canterbury on account of the help he 
had given and was ready to give to the king about his di- 
vorce. Long afterwards he was burned to death for his 
adherence to the Protestant religion; but at this time, 
though he upheld the king's supremacy, he believed the 
Roman Catholic doctrines, and consented to the burning of 
heretics. It is not to be supposed that people became Prot- 
estants at once; it was only by degrees they learned to see 
that among the things they had been brought up to believe 
" some were untrue, some uncertain, some vain and super- 
stitious." Cranmer was not a perfect man, by any means ; 
he was more worldly and less brave than most of the reform- 
ers; but he did lasting good to the Church and nation; it 
Avas he who sent forth through the land the English Bible 
and the English Prayer-book. 

The other counsellor of the king was Thomas Cromwell, 
a man who had been in Wolsey's employ, and who came in- 
to favor as the oreat cardinal declined. He was 
Cromwell. faithful to ^ master in his fall, and did all he 
could to shield him from disgrace and injury, so that every- 
one respected and admired his honesty and fidelity. But lie 
was a very bad adviser for the king. Wolsey had said of 
Henry, " He is a prince of royal courage, and hath a princely 
heart,' and rather than he will want or miss any part of his 
will or pleasure he will endanger the loss of the one half of 
his. realm." "I assure you," Wolsey went on, "I have often 
kneeled before him for the space sometimes of three hours, 

404 



THE REFORMERS. 405 

to persuade him from his will and appetite, but I could never 
dissuade him therefrom. Therefore, Mr. Kingstone, I warn 
you, if it chance you hereafter to be of his privy council 
... be well assured and advised what ye put in his head, 
for ye shall never put it out again." 

Cromwell was exactly the minister to please a king like 
this, for all his aim and object was to make the king and the 
king's will supreme in everything. He wanted the country 
to be governed, not, as of old, by a constitutional king, who 
had to consult his Parliament, and conform himself to the 
laws of the land, but by an absolute king, who should be 
above and before all, even above the law. This was all the 
more dangerous since Henry had become the head of the 
Church as well as of the State, and therefore had twice as 
much authority as any of his predecessors, and it would no 
longer be in the power of the archbishops and bishops to 
oppose his will. Cromwell introduced a law which one won- 
ders could ever have been adopted, — that persons accused 
of high treason should not be allowed to be heard in their 
own defence. It was a remarkable retribution that when 
after a time Cromwell's will clashed with the king's, and he 
fell into disfavor, he was the first to suffer under that law. 

These plans and views of Cromwell suited Henry and his 
successors very well; but they did not please the English 
nation, and when the time came, a hundred years later, that 
the king's will and the nation's will came into collision, there 
was a great crash, and freedom was restored. But the grad- 
ual change which had begun under Edward IV. still went 
on, and the country became more and more dependent on 
the personal will of the king. The Tudors, with one excep- 
tion, besides being obstinate, were wise ; they could see what 
the nation would put up with, and what it would not, and 
they avoided a conflict with their people, because they had 
so true a perception of what their will really was. 

In regard to the Church, though there were many who dif- 
fered from the Protestant reformers, it seems that the mail; 
body of the people generally sided with them, and were glad 
to throw off the tyranny of Rome. When Henry and Cran- 
mer began, as they soon did, to cast away the Romish doc- 
trines also, and to encourage the reading of the Bible, the 
more intelligent classes still approved. Above all, the learned 
and serious-minded young men at the universities, Avho had 
read the Greek Testament of Erasmus, and his other writ- 



406 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOIiY. 

bags, were much influenced by them. Some of these came 
to be very famous afterwards, and left a glorious name be- 
hind them, as the fathers of the English Church. 
Tyndale. Q ne q £ t | )e most no table was Tyndale, who, having 
read and heartily sympathized with what Erasmus wished 
about the Bible, determined to do his share towards bringing 
it to pass, by once more translating the Bible into English. 
The old translations, even Wyclif's, had now become old-fash- 
ioned ; for, though but a hundred and fifty years had passed, 
the language had altered so much that probably it could not 
be easily understood. But language was less permanent then 
than now, because the printing of books fixes the meaning 
of words and their spelling to a great extent ; so that though 
the Bible in what is called King James's translation, which 
is more than three hundred years old, is somewhat antique, 
all can understand it, and delight in its beauty and majesty. 
A great part of the Bible is in the very English of Tyndale, 
and of his friend Miles Coverdale, who helped him. 

The biography of Tyndale, as well as that of many others 
of the reformers, may be read in Foxe's " Book of Martyrs," 
which has always been a very popular book, and is indeed 
most interesting, quaint, and vivid, though not impartial 
enough to be thoroughly relied on. Tyndale was well edu- 
cated, having studied both at Oxford and Cambridge, when 
he became tutor in a gentleman's family in Gloucestershire. 
This gentleman, Sir John Welch, being a rich and hospitable 
man, was in the habit of entertaining at dinner the dignified 
clergy, the abbots, deans, and archdeacons of the neighbor- 
hood, and the young tutor would sit at table among them. 
People were already thinking a great deal about the new 
doctrines, and the talk was often about Erasmus and Luther, 
and their works. Tyndale would join in the conversation, 
and sometimes put all the dignitaries to silence by his argu- 
ments and knowledge of the Scriptures. He happened once 
to be in company of a divine, " recounted," says Foxe, " for 
a learned man, and in communing and disputing with him he 
drave him to that issue that the said great doctor burst out 
into these blasphemous words, ' We were better to be with- 
out God's laws than the Pope.' Master Tyndale, hearing 
this, full of godly zeal, and not bearing that blasphemous 
saying, replied again, and said, 'I defy the Pope and all his 
laws;' and farther added that if God spared him life, ere 
many years he would cause a boy that driveth the plough to 
know more of the Scripture than he did." 



THE REFORMERS. 407 

Naturally he soon grew into disfavor with the clergy, 
who wished things to remain as they were; and not only 
with these higher ones, but also with the lower and more 
ignorant, who were perhaps jealous of his learning. These 
latter seem to have been in almost as bad a condition as they 
were in the days of King Alfred. Prayers, in public wor- 
ship were still said in Latin, and of course the congrega- 
tions could not understand them, but it seems the priests 
themselves were not much better. Tyndale said he was 
sure there were twenty thousand priests and curates in Eng- 
land who could not give the right English of the Lord's 
Prayer (the Paternoster). 

The clergy, high and low, soon made the place too hot for 
him, and he went to London, full of zeal to keep that prom- 
ise about the Scriptures. He found very little Hetrans . 
encouragement there; he remained almost a year, latesthe 
" beholding the pomp of the prelates " (this was Blble - 
just in the height of Wolsey's glory), " with other things 
more which greatly misliked him." He received no protec- 
tion or assistance, and finally decided that London was no 
place for him or his work. Accordingly he went abroad 
and settled in Antwerp, where he was encouraged by some 
English merchants, and where he, helped by friends who 
were like-minded with himself, finished his translation. It 
was immediately printed ; and the question arose how to get 
the copies circulated in England. This was some time be- 
fore Henry had broken with the Pope, and it was still 
against the law for laymen to read the Bible. One of the 
clergy, who was afterwards Archbishop of York, tells this 
in plain words. He had found out about Tyndale and the 
New Testament, and he writes to the king to warn him. 
"An Englishman, . . . your subject, . . . hath translated 
the New Testament into English, and within few days 
intendeth to return with the same imprinted to England. 
I need not advertise your Grace what infection and danger 
may ensue hereby if it be not withstanded. . . . All our 
fathers and governors of the Church of England hath with 
all diligence forbid and eschewed publication of English 
Bibles." He exhorts the king to set forth the standard 
against these Philistines, and to undertread them that 
they shall not lift up their heads; "knowing what harm 
such books (Bibles) hath done in your realm in times 
past." 



408 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

The Protestants in England, some of them young students 
of Oxford and Cambridge, some of them poor workmen in 
London, formed themselves into a society to receive and 
spread abroad these precious forbidden books. The police 
contrived to lay hands on a great many of the Testaments 
after they were brought to England ; the bishops too, who 
were set upon destroying them, bought up all they could 
get. And one Sunday morning a fine sight was to be seen 

1527 in St. Paul's Cathedral. A platform was erected 
The New in the centre of the nave, on which, in purple and 
burnUn 11 g*old, sate the great cardinal ; around him were 
St. Paul's, bishops, abbots, and doctors, splendid in gowns of 
damask and satin. In front of all this grandeur, within a 
railing, a tire was burning, with the sinful books, both tracts 
and Testaments, ranged round it in baskets, waiting for the 
execution of the sentence. Presently six prisoners in peni- 
tential dresses, carrying fagots, were brought in. These poor 
men were Protestants who had been captured and persuaded 
to recant (not all men are heroes). They were made to 
kneel down with their fagots on their shoulders, and beg 
pardon of God and Holy Church for their offences. Then 
they were taken within the rail, and led three times round 
the fire, casting in their fagots as they passed. Lastly the 
books, the Gospels of Jesus, were thrown on the flames also, 
and the cardinal, the bishops, and the abbots had their tri- 
umph. 

The condemned books had been bought through a certain 
merchant named Packington, who Avas a secret friend of 
Tyndale's. The story is told by Foxe. Packington said to 
the bishop, " ' If it be your lordship's pleasure, I must dis- 
burse money to pay for them, or else I cannot have them, 
and so I will assure you to have every book of them that is 
printed and unsold.' The bishop, thinking he had the 
matter secured, said, 'Do your diligence, gentle Master 
Packington ; get them for me, and I will pay whatsoever 
they cost, for I intend to burn and destroy them all at 
Paul's Cross'. This Augustine Packington went unto Tyn- 
dale, and declared the whole matter ; and so, upon compact 
made between them, the Bishop of London had the books, 
Packington had the thanks, and Tyndale had the money. 
After this Tyndale corrected the same New Testament 
again, and caused them to be newly imprinted, so that they 
came thick and threefold over into England." 



THE REFORMERS. 409 

Latimer was one of the greatest of the English reformers, 
a man of great influence ; hearty and earnest, bold, witty, 
and original ; his sermons, many of which are still preserved, 
are very plain-spoken and pithy, and must have produced a 
great effect. Henry VIII., who, with all his arbitrariness, 
"loved a man" when he saw him, liked Latimer, often had 
him to preach before him, and presently made him Bishop 
of Worcester. 

As for Tyndale, he was watched and persecuted for his 
noble work, imprisoned, and at last put to death in Ant- 
werp as a heretic upon the request of King Henry 
and with the approval of Sir Thomas More. The 1535 * 
only letter of his that has been preserved is one that was 
written while he was in prison in the castle of Vilvorde in 
Flanders, and addressed to the governor. In it he pleads for 
a few comforts, a warmer cap, and a warmer coat; "for that 
which I have is very thin ; also a piece of cloth to patch my 
leggings ; my overcoat is worn out ; my shirts are also worn 
out. ... I wish also permission to have a candle in the even- 
ing, for it is wearisome to sit alone in the dark. But above 
all, I entreat and beseech your clemency to be urgent with 
the Procureur that he may kindly permit me to have my 
Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar, and Hebrew Dictionary, 
that I may spend my time with that study. And in return 
may you obtain your dearest wish, provided always it be 
consistent with the salvation of your soul. But if any other 
resolution has been come to concerning me, that I must 
remain during the whole winter, I shall be patient, abiding 
the will of God, to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus 
Christ, whose spirit I pray may ever direct your heart." 

Four years after that pathetic letter was written, and 
when Tyndale had been put to death, the English Bible was 
published by authority of the king. While Crom- 1539 
well was minister the Protestants were much fa- The Eng- 

vored, and he and Cranmer worked together to help lis ll 1 ?l bl S 

Al • i ■ i, ° , \, published 

their cause, and especially to encourage instead of byau- 

forbid the reading of the Bible. One of the new thority. 
English Bibles was placed in every parish church in Eng- 
land. The title-page was ornamented with a picture. At 
the top sits King Henry on his throne, supreme head both 
of Church and State, holding in his hand the "Verbum 
Dei," which he distributes to the bishops and high officials ; 
down at the bottom of the page are the people in general, 



410 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOKV. 

both priests and laymen, holding out their hands eagerly for 

the books which the bishops distribute among them, and 

crying Viyat Rex, and God save the king. A copy of the 

second edition of this Bible, with the same title-page, is to 

be seen in the British Museum. 

Another of Cromwell's works was the dissolution of the 

1536-9. monasteries. First the smaller ones were broken 

P is3ol „ u - no. Wolsey had indeed already set the example 
tionof the . l , . .,< » ., ,, . ' 

monas- m doing tins, tor the smaller ones were m a far 

teries. worse and more disorderly condition than the 

larger; but before long Cromwell proceeded to suppress the 

large and wealthy ones, some of whicli were still decorous 

and religious, and in which the monks and priors were really 

good and pious men. This measure gave great offence to 

many of the people ; the monasteries had been in some ways 

a help and refuge to the poor, since they were almost always 

liberal and charitable, and ready to give food and lodging 

to those who needed it. As they did not, however, examine 

very carefully whether the applicants really did need their 

charity, they encouraged a great many in idleness and 

dependence who ought to have been at work, and thus a 

great many more were now added to the "sturdy beggars" 

whom the government did not know what to do with. 

Here and there some revolts took place, but the govern- 
ment was too strong to be resisted. When the abbeys and 
priories were broken up, the monks and nuns received small 
pensions for the rest of their lives, varying according to their 
rank in the monastery; the nuns got about £4 a year, which 
in those days would go as far as forty would do now. It 
appears that a great many of the younger, both monks and 
nuns, were overjoyed at receiving their liberty. 

Immense wealth came into the treasury of the king. 
Some of it, but not much, -was used for religious purposes, 
for founding new bishoprics, colleges, and schools; the 
greater part the king used in rewarding his friends and 
courtiers. Many laymen, nobles, and others live in what are 
still called abbeys and priories. Though there is little doubt 
that it was for the lasting good of the country that all this 
took place, it sullied the Reformation in people's minds, and 
gave Henry the name of a robber and spoiler that he kept 
so much of this great wealth for his own purposes, 

There came an end of Becket's shrine and the Canterbury 
pilgrimages. The king made proclamation, saying that he 



THE REFORMERS. 411 

and his council, having looked into the matter, found that 
Thomas a Becket, far from being a saint, was a rebel and a 
traitor. Henceforth no more honor was to be paid 
to him ; no more pilgrims were to kneel at his tomb. 
The beautiful and costly shrine was broken up. That precious 
and miraculous jewel which the king of France had bestowed 
was set in a ring which Henry wore upon his thumb, and was 
afterwards placed in a necklace by his daughter Mary. 

All these great changes produced lasting effects on the 
thoughts, characters, and lives of Englishmen. The other 
events of the reign must be passed over hastily. The ki , 
It is well known that Henry VIII. had six wives, domestic 
and there is not space to give their painful history llfe " 
in full. Two of the six wives were divorced ; it was in 
making the match for one of these, Anne of Cleves, that 
Cromwell fell into disgrace and lost his head. Two were 
beheaded : one of whom was Anne Boleyn, for whose sake 
poor Queen Katherine had been set aside, and who was the 
mother of Queen Elizabeth. One died a natural death while 
the king was still alive ; and the last, after being in some 
danger now and then, survived him. Yet he had but three 
children. Of those three not one left a child, and only one 
was considered by everybody to be legitimate.* 

* In his treatment of his wives, whether the} T were innocent or 
guilty. Henry was a monster of cruelty, capable of acts which none but 
a savage or a fiend could conceive or carry out. Henry's marriages, 
divorces, and crimes are dismissed with too much haste. The trans- 
actions concerned the whole country, and drew attention from all 
Christendom ; and it is not enough to waive them away as scandal and 
gossip. The bulk of the history of Henry's reign is intwined with the 
affairs of his wives. 

Queen Katherine, as stated, was the widow of Henry's elder 
brother, married to Henry while he was a mere boy, greatly against 
his will. Though a dispensation for the marriage had been obtained 
from the Pope, it was forbidden by canonical law; and as it had proved 
childless, when an heir to the throne was so greatly desired, we cannot 
wonder that Henry should have taken advantage of a technicality to 
free himself. It was certainly less reprehensible than many of his acts. 

That his passion for Anne Boleyn was the moving cause in urging 
him on to the divorce, none will deny. He might protest about his 
religious scruples, but Gray expressed the general thought in a couplet 
of exquisite wit: — 

" When love could teach a monarch to be wise, 
And Gospel-light first dawned from Bullen's eyes." 

Anne Boleyn was found guilty of treason in being unfaithful to 
her husband, and suffered death. She was convicted by the imani- 



412 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Henry's latter days Mere not glorious. He had some 
unimportant wars, both in France and Scotland, which 
brought neither profit nor renown. After the fall of Crom- 
well, who was a stanch Protestant, he fell once more under 
the influence of the Romanist party. He published six 
articles (1539), containing many of the principal Roman 
Catholic doctrines, to which everyone was bound to con- 
form. But as it was not so easy for thinking men 
Hisdtath t(> a ' tc ' r their opinions merely because the king had 
altered his, more Protestants were burned as here- 
tics. Henry died, old before his time, in 1547. 

With all his faults and inconsistencies, it ought to be 
remembered that he guided England through a most dan- 
gerous and exciting crisis with energy and success. In 
Germany the Reformation was the cause of a most long and 
terrible war before it could be established in the countries 
which desired it. The same was the case in Holland. In 
France and Spain the kings crushed it altogether. In Eng- 
land, as we have seen, it was established, with fire and blood 
of martyrs, but without civil war, and soon, though not all 
at once, took firm root in the hearts of the people. 

moos judgment of twenty-seven peers, besides grand jurors, judges, 
and others. As the proceedings were secret, we do not know the evi- 
dence, but there seems to be little reasonable doubt of her guilt. — 
Fhoude's History of England, vol. ii. ch. xi. 

Henry's third marriage, which took place at once after the execu- 
tion of Anne, was with Lady Jane Seymour. This lady died at Hamp- 
ton Court Palace shortly after the birth of her son, afterward Edward 
VI. 

The fourth marriage was with Anne of Cleves, an amiable German 
princess of moderate intelligence, and possessing no attractions what- 
ever. Henry did not see his affianced bride until after the negotia- 
tions had been concluded, and the lady had come with an escort to 
England. He had depended upon the representations of his minister 
Cromwell; and his disappointment, which was intense, was the first 
occasion of Cromwell's loss of favor, of station and life. Henry was 
divorced by a judgment of the prelates and clergy of the English 
Church. The decision was not so clearly a divorce as a declaration of 
nullity. 

Three years after the death of Lady Jane Seymour, Henry married 
Katherine. daughter of Lord Edmund Howard. This fifth marriage 
was the most unfortunate of all. In a little more than a year the 
queen was found guilty of treason — as in the case of Anne Boleyn — 
beyond all doubt, and, having confessed her crime, was executed. 

The sixth and last wife was Catherine Parr, widow of Lord Latimer. 
This estimable lady survived Kins Henry. 



CHAPTER XLIIL 

THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 

Edward VI. Protector Somerset. The Reformation urged forward. Revolt in 
the west. Revolt in the east. I >eath of Somerset. Death of Edward. Lady 
Jane Grey, Mary and Philip. Romanism restored. The Protestant martyrs. 

At the end of the Wars of the Roses, which had been 
caused by rival families lighting for the throne, it was hoped 
that through the marriage of Henry of Lancaster with Eliza- 
beth of York all such difficulties were ended for ever. But 
all these hopes proved vain ; and though there were no 
more civil wars on these grounds, yet there were great dis- 
quiets and disputes, and many terrible deaths of innocent 
people, caused by the confusion of rival claimants. 

Henry YIIL, who was so anxious to have lawful heirs, 
and had put that forth, indeed, as the excuse for his matri- 
monial adventures, had really made the confusion 
greater. The House of Parliament, to avoid diffi- drenof 
culty, had recognized the claims of all his three chil- H^nry 
dren, though there were doubts about the legitimacy 
of two of them, the princesses Mary and Elizabeth. Those 
who believed that Katherine of Aragon had been Henry's 
lawful wife, and that the divorce made without the Pope's 
consent was illegal, looked on Anne Boleyn's daughter 
Elizabeth as illegitimate ; those who considered the mar- 
riage between Henry and his brother's widow no marriage, 
and thought the divorce a real one, looked on Katherine's 
daughter Mary as illegitimate. But Parliament had decided 
that both should be considered as lawful heirs to the crown 
in due order after their brother Edward, son of Lady Jane 
Seymour. 

It did not seem very likely that all these three would die 
childless (though it fed out so in fact), but if they did, the 
crown was then to go to the descendants of Henry's younger 
sister. The elder one, who had married the king of Scot- 
land, was set aside ; but it was her grandson who came to 

413 



414 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the throne at last. The eldest of Henry's three children was 
the Princess Mary, daughter of Katherine of Ara- 
a * 7 ' gon. One cannot help feeling great pity for her ; 
her young days were made very hitter by the undeserved 
disgrace of her mother. After being looked on as princess 
royal, and heir to the crown, she had to endure the mortifi- 
cation of being treated as illegitimate, and seeing her mother 
divorced and sent away from the court, whilst a gay young 
rival was set up in her place. Moreover, both she and her 
Spanish mother were devoted to the old religion. And as 
the fall of Katherine and of the Pope's supremacy in Eng- 
land went hand in hand, so the personal and religious feel- 
ing went hand in hand in Mary's mind, and she grew up with 
an intolerable sense of wrong on both grounds. She does 
not seem to have been either beautiful or clever, and she 
was self-willed, like all the Tudors ; but she was sincere and 
honest, and at this time more to be pitied than blamed. 

The next daughter, Elizabeth, who at the death of her 

father was about fourteen, was the child of Anne Boleyn. 

She had her strong will too, but then she was a woman of 

mind, hearty, and (reasonably) good-lool<ing. She 

Elizabeth. wag g^ am j vauij ]j]- e j ier mother, and, moreover, 

parsimonious, untruthful, and artful ; but she had many fine 
and strong points of character, and when her turn came to 
reign she was as much loved as her unfortunate sister was 
hated. She was brought up a Protestant, and Cranmer was 
her god-father, but she does not seem to have cared for reli- 
gion half as much as for politics. Like her father, she could 
be cruel as death. 

Edward was now about nine years old, and, his mother 
having lived an irreproachble life, and died a natural death, 

as Henry's wife, he was the undisputed heir to the 
Ed 54? d throne. ' It, is difficult to find out the truth about 

the character of those who lived at this period. If 
they were Protestants, the Protestant writers make them out 
to be as perfect as saints, while the Roman Catholic writers 
can hardly find words bad enough for them ; and just the 
contrary if they were on the other side. It is perhaps diffi- 
cult for English people to be dispassionate in regard to 
matters of religion even to-day. The Red or the White 
Rose, York or Lancaster are of no consequence ; but the 
majority still care much for the Protestant religion, and 
would be quite ready to rebel at the thought of the Pope 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 415 

using any authority over the country. This gives the period 
of the Reformation a living interest. 

But making all allowances for the partiality of Protestant 
writers, it is impossible not to see that Edward VI. was a 
most remarkable boy, with wonderful intelligence, and a 
sweet and noble nature. He was described by one of his 
tutors as " the beautif idlest creature that liveth under the 
sun, the liveliest, the most amiable, and the gentlest thing of 
all the world; such a spirit of capacity in learning the things 
taught him by his schoolmasters, that it is a wonder to hear 
say ; and, finally, he hath such a grace of port and gesture in 
gravity when he cometh into any presence, that it should seem 
he were already a father, and yet passeth he not the age of 
ten years." When he was about thirteen years old, it is said 
that he had studied seven languages, and was thoroughly 
acquainted with his own, as well as with French and Latin. 
" Nor was he ignorant of logic, of the princij;>les of natural 
philosophy, or of music." He also took great interest in 
affairs of state. One can hardly wonder that a boy who 
had received such an education, and had such a precocious 
mind, never lived to grow up. " That child was so educated, 
possessed such abilities, and caused such expectations, that 
he appeared a miracle." He was also a very religious child, 
and we are particularly told with what wonderful pleasure 
he listened to the long sermons which it was the custom of 
the reforming bishops to preach before him. 

The king being so young, the government was placed in 
the hands of a council, at the head of which was Edward's 
uncle, the Duke of Somerset, brother to his mother. 
This duke was a decided Protestant, far more de- Somerset 
oided than Henry VIII. had been, and he and Arch- andProt- 
bishop Cranmer pushed on the Reformation most es an lsm ' 
vigorously. The greatest changes they made were these, 
which had been partly attempted before, but had not been 
definitely settled : — 

(1) The Church service was to be in English instead of in 
Latin. 

(2) Images, crosses, pictures, and the like were no longer 
to be treated with excessive veneration, and in most cases 
were destroyed. 

(3) Worship of the Virgin and the saints was to be given 
up. 

(4) Confession to a priest was not to be compulsory. 



416 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

(5) The doctrine of transubstantiation was declared un- 
true. 

(6) The clergy were to be permitted to marry. 

These were serious changes to force upon people all at 
once. It is difficult to give up what we have believed from 
our childhood, even when it is quite clear to our understand- 
ing that the belief was unfounded. And, as to some of these 
points, numbers of ignorant people could never have them 
made quite clear, whilst others clung with affectionate ten-. 
derness to the faith of their fathers. The churches in Eng- 
land up to this time had looked much as they now look in 
France and Italy; they had sacred pictures in them, images 
which were thought very holy, and before which poor people 
would go and pray. The Protestants, regarding this as 
idolatry, began to pull down the images and to break the 
stained glass windows and the carved stone crosses. This 
must have hurt the feelings of the old worshippers very 
sorely. But the powers in authority pushed on harshly, and 
persecuted those who would not conform. They burned a 
poor woman for holding some wrong opinions about Christ's 
incarnation. They put two of the Roman Catholic bishops, 
Gardiner and Bonner, in prison, after vainly trying to make 
them preach sermons before the king and the court in favor 
of the reformed religion and against their consciences ; till 
Gardiner very naturally said he wished the Protector Somer- 
set " would leave religion to the clergy, and cease to meddle 
with it." He also declared he would speak what he thought, 
if he were to be hanged for it when he left the pulpit. 

The Reformation, however, was heartily welcomed, and 
made much progress in London and in other towns, espe- 
cially the seaports, where the people were more intelligent, 
better educated, and could read their new Bibles. In the 
more remote parts of the country it made but little way, 
and the people were greatly angered at the changes which 
were introduced. Before long those in the west country, in 
Cornwall and Devonshire, began to rebel. 

The prayer-book was ordered to be first read in English 
on a Whitsunday. This prayer-book, which was principally 
arranged by Cranmer, contained scarcely anything 
Rising in new 5 nearly all the prayers were translated from 
the western the old Latin ones, which had been used by Chris- 
tians for centuries, leaving out the parts which 
were contrary to the reformed doctrines. But as they were 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 417 

now in English instead of in Latin, they were new in the 
ears of the unlearned, and there was great indignation on 
that Whitsunday. In particular there was one village on 
Dartmoor where the congregation was much offended. The 
next morning, when the clergyman was going into church to 
say the prayers for Whitmonday, the parishioners came about 
him, declaring they would have none of the new fashions, 
they would have the old religion of their fathers. The 
priest was must likely very glad in his heart to be com- 
pelled to go hack to the old way. He put on his vestments, 
and said mass in Latin, "the common people in all the coun- 
try round clapping their hands for joy." 

The example was followed in other places ; and when it 
was heard of in London, the council sent orders to have the 
resistance put down promptly and sternly. It was not at all 
easy to put down. Thousands of men rose in rebellion ; 
there were some hard battles, and the city of Exeter was 
besieged; but in the end the government conquered; the 
rebels were defeated, and their leaders put to death ; one 
priest was hanged on his own church tower. 

While this was going on in the west, another rebellion 

broke out in the east; not on religious grounds, for the 

eastern counties were more inclined to Protestant- „. • 

, . . , . , Hising in 

ism, but in resistance to the great land-owners, the eastern 

who were enclosing common lands, and also turn- counties - 
ing a great deal of ploughed land into sheep-farms. This 
practice had been a serious grievance to the poor for a long- 
time, sine* the depopulation caused by the Black Death. 
Sir Thomas More, who was an observer of the condition of 
the poor, had written about it, saying that the sheep, "which 
are naturally mild and easily kept in order, may be said now 
to devour men, and unpeople not only villages, but towns." 
The enclosing of the common lands was probably worse, 
because it deprived the poor of what had always been their 
right, the feeding of their pigs and other animals. Protector 
Somerset and Bishop Latimer thought these poor men had 
some right on their side. Latimer, indeed, in his plain- 
spoken way, preached a sermon on the subject, in which, 
though he said both parties were covetous, yet he very 
clearly defined what the laborers had a right to demand. 

" The poorest ploughman is, in Christ," said he, " equal 
with the greatest prince that is. Let them, therefore, have 
sufficient to maintain them, and to find them their necessa- 



418 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

ries." Tlie} must have some sheep to " help to fatten the 
ground ; " they must have swine for their food ; " their 
bacon is their venison (for they shall now have hangum. 
tuum if they get any other venison)" — it was felony to 
steal deer ; " they must have horses to draw their plough, 
and for carriage of things to the markets, and kine for their 
milk and cheese. . . . These cattle must have pasture, which 
pasture if they lack, the rest must needs fail them. And 
pasture they cannot have if the land is taken in and enclosed 
from them." 

Commissioners were sent down into the disturbed country 
to inquire into the complaints of the people, but they did 
little good. " I remember mine own self," says Latimer, " a 
certain giant, a great man who sate in commission about 
such matters, and when the townsmen should bring in (or 
report) what had been enclosed, he frowned and chafed, and 
so looked and threatened the poor men that they durst not 
ask for their right." 

These men also rose in rebellion, took possession of the 
city of Norwich, and became so formidable that the govern- 
ment put them down with the strong hand, and their princi- 
pal leaders were executed. What made the matter worse, 
was that the government hired German troops to tight ami 
subdue the English. It seems that no less than ten thousand 
men were killed in these outbreaks. 

These disasters brought the Duke of Somerset into great 
discredit. He managed foreign affairs as badly, and the 
nation lost confidence in him. He had also amassed a large 
fortune for himself out of the Church lands, and was un- 
wisely ostentatious. He was fond of state and splendor, and 
built himself a palace in the Strand (where Somerset House 
now stands). To make room for it he pulled down a parish 
church, and to provide materials he blew up with gunpowder 
a beautiful Roman Catholic chapel lately built, and part of 

1552 the cloisters of St. Paul's. All this gave great 
Death of offence; and in the end the duke was deposed, and, 
Somerset. ^ e go manv eminent men in those days, ended his 
life on the scaffold. 

But though an imprudent, impetuous man, he was well- 
meaning and generous, and at his death much sorrow and 
pity were felt for him. The king being still very young, an- 
other man now came into power, the Duke of Northumber- 
land. He professed to be a zealous Protestant too, but his 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 419 

real care was not so much for religion as- for his own family 
interest. And now began fresh troubles about the succes- 
sion to the throne. Edward was already in delicate health ; 
it was feared that he would not live long, and there was a 
terrible prospect before the Protestants if he died. The 
next person to reign would be the Princess Mary, a narrow- 
minded, bitter, and bigoted woman. 

Northumberland worked upon the mind of the young 
king, who was a most ardent Protestant, and persuaded him 
to make a will, altering the succession, which he The Duke 
had no right to do without the consent of Parlia- of North- 
ment. Moreover, he induced him to pass over not um er an " 
only his sister Mary, but also Elizabeth, and to go to the 
family who came next after them, the children of Henry 
VIL's younger daughter. One of the granddaughters of this 
princess was Lady Jane Grey, who had been lately married 
to the Duke of Northumberland's son, and it was she whom 
the duke fixed on as heiress of the crown. But if the crown 
went to that family at all, it should have gone to the mother, 
who was still alive, before the daughter. 

Cranmer, to do him justice, was very unwilling to consent, 
for though he knew what Mary was, and that she had a 
special grudge against himself for the part he had taken in 
her mother's divorce, still he was convinced that she had a 
right to the crown unless Parliament declared the contrary. 
However, he was brought to consent at last, and 1553 
very soon after the young king died. One of his Death of 
last acts, after hearing a sermon by Bishop Ridley EdwardvI - 
on the duty of charity, was to found the Blue-Coat School 
and St. Bartholomew's Hospital, both of which are still in 
useful existence. Almost his last words were, " O Lord 
God, save Thy chosen people of England . . . defend this 
realm from papistry, and maintain the true religion, that I 
and my people may praise Thy holy name; for Thy Son 
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." 

As soon as he was dead the troubles began. There were 
two queens, or would-be queens, each with a party. Lady 
Jane Grey was about sixteen years old, and as good 
and wise as her cousin Edward had been. It was Lady Jane 
customary at that time for young ladies of high 
rank to receive as good an education as their brothers did ; 
and this young girl was said to have learned, besides her own, 
seven other languages. She was a good Greek scholar, and 



420 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

could enjoy reading Plato in the original when about four- 
teen years old. A very eminent scholar of that clay, Roger 
Ascham, gives an account of a visit he paid her, and his 
surprise at finding her with her Greek books instead of 
amusing herself with the rest of the family, who were hunt- 
ing in the park. He could not forbear expressing his aston- 
ishment, and inquiring how she found so much pleasure in 
philosophy. "1 will tell you," she said, "a truth which per- 
chance you will marvel at. One of the greatest benefits 
which ever God gave me is, that He sent me such sharp and 
severe parents, and so gentle a schoolmaster. For when I 
am in presence of either father or mother, whether I speak, 
keep silence, sit, stand, or go ; eat, drink, be merry, or sad ; 
be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I am so 
sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened ; yea, presently, some- 
times with pinches, nips, and bobs, and other ways which I 
will not name for the honor I bear them, so without measure 
misordered that I think myself in hell till time come that I 
must go to Master Aylmer, who teaches me so gently, so 
pleasantly, with such fair allurements to learning, that I 
think all the time nothing when I am with him; and when 
I am called from him I fall to weeping, because whatsoever 
I do else but learning is full of grief, trouble, and fear, and 
wholly misliking unto me. And thus my book has been so 
much my pleasure, and brings daily to me more and more 
pleasure. 1 ' 

She was brought up as a Protestant, and seems to have 
reflected on the subjects of dispute, and to have been sin- 
cerely religious. "When she was sixteen she was married to 
Lord Guildford Dudley, but she had no idea of the ambitious 
schemes and plots of her father-in-law, and when he, with 
four other noblemen, came to tell her that King Edward was 
dead, and that she was to be queen of England, she was 
greatly shocked and frightened. She says herself, in a long 
letter written by her afterwards to Queen Mary, that, "over- 
come by sudden and unlooked-for sorrow, she fell to the 
ground weeping bitterly, and that she heard these things 
with a troubled mind, and with much grief and displeasure 
of heart." She complains that she was deceived by the 
duke and the council, and ill treated by her husband and 
his mother. Thus this sweet and innocent girl was led to 
her ruin. She was proclaimed queen, and for one short 
fortnight acted as such; but the whole nation well knew 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 421 

that she had no right to that title, and when Mary was pro- 
claimed by her supporters she was universally accepted. 
The Duke of Northumberland was tried and beheaded, and 
Lady Jane Grey and her young husband were imprisoned in 
the Tower. 

Mary at once let her religious opinions be known. On 
the day of her coronation she refused to sit in St. Edward's 
chair, the chair with the sacred stone, fearing it 
had been polluted by having been the seat of her jlary 1 
Protestant brother Edward, and she was crowned 
sitting in another chair sent over by the Pope. The two 
Roman Catholic bishops, Bonner and Gardiner, were brought 
out of prison and promoted to great authority, while Cran- 
raer, Latimer, and Ridley, and other Protestants were kept 
in confinement. The English prayer-book was set aside, and 
the Latin mass restored. 

It Avas considered very important that the queen should 
marry, and the whole country wished her to marry some 
Englishman ; but Mary had set her heart upon 
marrying her cousin Philip, who was heir to the fpam.° f 
crown of Spain, and very soon became king. She 
had never seen more of him than a portrait, but it appears 
she fell deeply in love with that. The English people hated 
and detested the thought of this match. Spain had lately 
risen to be one of the must powerful, rich, and important 
countries of Europe. Philip's grandfather having married 
the heiress of the Duke of Burgundy, he was not only king 
of Spain, hut also of the rich provinces of Flanders, and 
many other territories. Moreover, the Spaniards had taken 
possession of a great part of the New World they had 
helped to discover, especially Mexico and Peru, where they 
found mines of gold, which produced enormous wealth. 

The English felt persuaded that if their queen married 
the king of Spain, and if he should come to be king of 
England too, as his wife would wish, his vast power and 
wealth would overpower England, which would sink into 
being a mere dependency of Spain. There was another great 
objection, which was the question of religion. 

The Spaniards were the most bigoted of all Catholics; 
and this Philip was perhaps the most cold-blooded and hard- 
hearted persecutor whom the world has ever seen, except 
his general and deputy, the Duke of Alva. That man's 
portrait was painted by Rubens, and is now in England ; 



422 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

his pale face looking as though east in iron ; his tall, splen- 
did horse seeming to trample the world under its hoofs, and 
the red sky behind. It was in Spain that the terrible Inqui- 
sition flourished, the grand work of the "Domini 
T1 sition Ui " Canes." The inquisitors worked in the dark ; any- 
one suspected of heresy might be seized, dragged 
before a mysterious tribunal without knowing what charge 
would be brought against him, nor who brought it, ques- 
tioned, tortured, and burned. 

During the three centuries that the Inquisition existed in 
Spain, it is believed that thirty-two thousand persons were 
burned by it, and hundreds of thousands suffered other 
severe punishments. The last of its victims was a woman, 
who was burned less than a hundred years ago. At the 
period of Mary's accession the Inquisition was in full vigor, 
doing its best to put down the Reformation. In Spain it 
was successful ; the Protestants were utterly crushed ; and 
Philip wished to do just the same in his other dominion of 
Flanders, where there were a great many Protestants. It 
was at Antwerp, as we saw, that Tyndale and his friends 
worked so long. 

A series of edicts had been published to recall the Prot- 
estants or heretics to the faith of the Church. Part of 
one of them ran thus : " Women Avho have fallen 
' into heresy shall be buried alive. Men, if they re- 
cant, shall lose their heads ; if they continue obstinate they 
shall be burned at the stake. If man or woman be suspected 
of heresy, no one shall shelter or protect him or her. . . . 
The Inquisition shall inquire into the private opinions of 
every person of whatever degree. . . . Those who know 
where heretics are hiding shall denounce them, or they 
shall suffer as heretics themselves." 

It is not wonderful that the English were resolved to have 
as little as possible to do with Spain and with King Philip. 
At the prospect of Mary's marriage the Kentish men 
Rising'of rose once more in rebellion. This time they were 
themen 110 t led by men like Wat Tyler or Jack Cade, but 
were headed by a Kentish gentleman, Sir Thomas 
Wyatt, who was a scholar and a poet, and was worthy of a 
better end. His father had been a poet too, and Tennyson 
shows him to us in his old castle in Kent, stringing his 
father's sonnets, 

"Left about 
Like loosely scatter'd jewels," 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 423 

just as he is called away to head the rebels. 

"Ah, gray old castle of Arlington, green field 
Beside the brimming Medway, it may chance 
That I shall never look upon you more," 

he says, as he turns away, never, indeed, to look upon them 
more. Once again the rebels marched to London, and once 
again they were defeated. Mary behaved like a queen ; 
she showed so brave and gallant a spirit that for once she 
kindled some enthusiasm ; the Londoners took her part, the 
rebellion was crushed, and Wyatt and the other principal 
leaders put to death. After this the young prisoners in the 
Tower, Lady Jane Grey and her husband, though perfectly 
innocent of having taken any share in the revolt, were put 
to death to prevent any farther danger from them. It was 
even proposed, in order to establish Mary securely on her 
throne, to put her sister Elizabeth to death ; but this was 
rather too bold a measure to venture upon, for Elizabeth 
was already a favorite with the people. 

Queen Mary, who was as pertinacious and self-willed as 
were all the Tudors, though far more stupid than most of 
them, took her own way, and married the king of 
Spain. It was a very unhappy marriage. England The< l ueens 
hated Philip, and Philip hated England. He had 
no love for his wife, who was older than himself, and not 
attractive, though she really loved him, strange as it ap- 
peared to everyone who knew them. She longed earnestly 
for a child, but she never had one. 

Another thing on which she had set her heart was to bring 
back England to the Church, and to be reconciled to the 
Pope ; and she succeeded in that for a time. Her cousin, 
Cardinal Pole, went to England as the Pope's legate, 
carrying pardon and absolution. The Houses of brought 
Parliament, both Lords and Commons, bent their ¥ C V° 
pride down to the point of falling on their knees 
before him to be absolved and reconciled. But though they 
consented to humble themselves so far, they would not con- 
sent, as the queen desired, to give up their Church lands 
again, their abbeys and priories, and the Pope was compelled 
to yield that point. 

The statutes against heretics were revived, and the work 
of the queen which left the deepest impression on the hearts 
of Englishmen was the persecution to which she lent her- 



424 GUEST'.S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

self, ami which earned for her the fitting name of "Bloody 

1555 Mary." Her principal supporters and coadjutors 
Persecu- in cruelty were Gardiner and Bonner. Bonner was 
Protes- the bishop of London, and on the occasion of his 
tants. death his friends were compelled to bury him pri- 
vately at dead of night, lest " the people of the city (to whom 
Bonner in his life was must odious) . . . might have been 
moved with indignation, and so some quarrelling and tumult 
might have ensued thereupon." Those who still loved their 
Bibles, and there were many of them, even among the hum- 
bler classes, hail to hide them away. "When my great- 
grandfather wished to read to his family," wrote the de- 
scendant of a Protestant blacksmith, "one of the children 
was stationed at the door to give notice if he saw the proc- 
tor (an officer of the spiritual court) make Ins appearance," 
in which case the Bible was hastily hidden away. Two hun- 
dred persons or more were publicly burned during Mary's 
reign of five years. 

The bishops Latimer and Ridley, who had been in prison 
for two years, were condemned to be burned at Oxford. 
Latimer's preaching and his speaking had had a 
andmdiev won derf u ^ effect on men's minds ; but his last 
' words were his most famous. There is hardly a 
child in England who has not heard how he turned to his 
fellow-martyr when the fire was kindled, saying, " Be of 
good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man ; we shall 
this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England as 
I trust shall never be put out." 

The success of the reformed religion, and the deep root 
it has struck in English hearts, were due in great measure to 
Queen Mary and her persecutions. When the people saw 
the martyrs, their courage, and faith, and constancy in the 
midst of cruel pain; when they heard their noble words, — it 
had more effect than whole libraries of arguments. All the 
sympathy, admiration, and reverence the people had they 
] toured at the feet of the martyrs; all their hatred they 
turned on the queen and her advisers. 

Archbishop Cranmer was not made of such heroic stuff 

as Latimer and Ridley, and at first, to save his life, he was 

induced to sign a recantation, declaring that he re- 

1556. nounced, abhorred, and detested all the heresies 

and errors of Luther; that he acknowledged the 

Bishop of Rome to be the supreme head of the Church and 



THE STRUGGLE OF THE CHURCHES. 425 

Christ's vicar on earth; and that he believed in transubstan- 
tiation, purgatory, and all doctrines which the Church of 
Rome held and taught. 

" The queen," says Foxe, " having now gotten a time to 
revenge her old greefe, received his recantation very gladly ; 
but of her purpose to put him to death she would nothing- 
relent. Now was Cranmer's cause in a miserable taking, who 
neither inwardly had any quiet in his own conscience, nor 
yet outwardly any help in his adversaries." His recantation 
availed nothing, and he was led forth to die. Then his 
spirit rose, and he found courage to do what was perhaps 
harder than death itself, — to own, in the hearing of all the 
people, that fear and faint-heartedness had made him false ; 
that the writing which he had signed was contrary to the 
truth, and contrary to his heart ; " and forasmuch," said he, 
" as my hand offended, writing contrary to my heart, my 
hand shall first be punished therefor, for when I come to the 
fire it shall first be burned." 

His enemies, on hearing this, "began to rage, fret, and 
fume, and to tax him with falsehood and dissimulation. 
' Ah, my masters,' quoth he, ' do not you take it so. Always 
since I lived hitherto, I have been a hater of falsehood, and 
a lover of simplicity, and never before this time have I dis- 
sembled ; ' and in saying this all the tears that remained in 
his body appeared in his eyes. ... It is marvellous what 
commiseration and pity moved all men's hearts that beheld 
so heavy a countenance, and such abundance of tears in an 
old man of so reverend dignity. . . . And when the wood 
was kindled, and the fire began to burn near him, stretching- 
out his arm, he put his right hand into the flame, which he 
held so steadfast and immovable . . . that all men might 
see his hand burned before his body was touched. His 
eyes were lifted up unto heaven, and oftentimes he repeated 
his '-unworthy right hand' so long as his voice would suffer 
him ; and using of the words of Stephen, ' Lord Jesus, re- 
ceive my spirit,' in the greatness of the flame, he gave up 
the ghost." 

Happily for England, Mary's reign was short. Her latter 
years were very miserable. Her husband left her and re- 
turned to his own dominions ; for the English would never 
consent as she wished, that he should be king after her 
death ; but he drew her and England into a war with 
France, which had a disastrous end. The city of Calais was 



426 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the one spot of French ground which, after all the centuries 
1558 °* fight ni £'> na< 5 remained to the English, and in this 

Loss of war the French regained possession of it. England 
a ais ' no longer had a foothold in France ; and this loss, 

terrible as it was felt to be by all the country, seemed to be 

almost the queen's death-blow. " When I die," she said, 

" Calais will be found written in my heart." 
1558 The proud, forsaken woman, loved by no one, 

Death of hardly pitied as she deserved, died before that year 
ry * was out. Cardinal Pole died at the same time, and 

the Pope lost all power in England forever. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

THE TWO QUEENS. 

Elizabeth. Her character. Her ministers. The Church and the Puritans. 
Mary, Queen of Scots. Babington's conspiracy. Trial and execution of 
Mary. 

When Mary died it seemed as if a black cloud was rolled 

away from the sky, and Elizabeth shone out like a "bright 

occidental star." The contrast between her and 

her sister seemed <>reater than ever. Elizabeth was t,,} 5 ^\ u 
. iii °-i-i nr iii c-i Elizabeth, 

the people s hope and pride. Mary had been atraid 

of her, and persecuted her, which made them love her all 
the more. There was much that was attractive about Eliza- 
beth ; she was as well educated as her brother and Lady 
Jane Grey ; she knew Latin and Greek, French and Italian ; 
she liked poetry, music, and dancing. She had indeed a 
great many faults, but in spite of them all she was the glory 
of the English nation throughout her long reign. 

She often appeared vain, changeable, fickle, deceitful ; but 
in her heart's core she loved England, and she sincerely 
sought its peace, its glory, and its happiness. In the first 
speech made in her name to Parliament she said that " noth- 
ing, no worldly thing under the sun, was so dear to her as 
the love and goodwill of her subjects." 

She was self-willed and arbitrary, like all her race; she 
domineered over bishops and nobles. " I will have here but 
one mistress, and no master," she said. But while her will 
was always for the good of the nation, the nation's will went 
with hers. If ever a time came that they clashed, which on 
certain points they sometimes did, then Elizabeth knew how 
to give way. And she would give way so frankly, so gener- 
ously, so heartily, that she gained greater love than before. 

The country was in a distracted state when she came to 
the throne. It was thus described in an address to the coun- 
cil : "The queen poor; the realm exhausted; the nobility 
poor and decayed ; good captains and soldiers wanting; the 

427 



428 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

people out of order; justice not executed; all things dear; 
. . . division among ourselves ; war with France ; the 
French king bestriding the realm, one foot in Calais, and 
the other in Scotland ; steadfast enemies, but no steadfast 
friends." 

Elizabeth's wisdom in her choice of counsellors and minis- 
ters was marvellous. Perhaps no sovereign was ever sur- 
rounded by such a body of statesmen as she gath- 
ister? in " ere ^ aroun( l nei 'j an, l though she was perverse and 
capricious beyond endurance in her treatment of 
them, they were nobly faithful to her and to the nation. 
These men were not from the high aristocracy. Whether it 
was that she wished to carry on the policy of her grand- 
father, Henry VII., in humbling the nobles and bringing 
forward the middle classes, or whether she really found 
more talent and genius for public affairs in that station, true 
it is that most of her ministers, Cecil, Bacon, Walsingham, 
and others, were said to be "all sprung from the earth." 
This was rather an exaggerated statement, however, since 
they were all gentlemen by birth. 

Queen Mary's husband, Philip of Spain, had been much 

disappointed that the English people would not make him 

king of England, as successor to his wife ; but he 

^/m^r 1 was determined not to lose his hold on the country 
and Philip. , . , . ..... . 

altogether; his earnest wish still was to keep it 
faithful to the Roman Church, as Mary had (outwardly) left 
it. He took care to be on good terms with Elizabeth, and 
tried to make her subservient. He thought this would be 
quite easy, as she was young and inexperienced, and her 
country poor, weak, and friendless. He, on the other hand, 
was the richest and most powerful king in Christendom. 

But he did not know with whom he had to deal. The 
contest went on for many years, and its end was glorious to 
England. At first it was carried on very cautiously on both 
sides. Elizabeth was prudent ; she did not openly quarrel 
with her brother-in-law, but she took her own way. The 
Spanish ambassadors, who knew how weak she was, and 
how strong their master was, were astonished to see how 
little she cared for his opinion and advice. Sometimes they 
thought she was a mere blind, reckless fool ; at other times 
they thought she was possessed by devils. 

Philip, at one time, thought of marrying her; not out of 
love, but for the sake of getting a tinner hold on her and 



THE TWO QUEENS. 429 

the country, and, as he said, " maintaining that realm in the 
religion which by God's help has been restored in it ; " but 
she would not consent, though for the present she wished to 
keep on fair terms with him. 

Elizabeth was the last of her family, and it was a grave 
question who was to come after her if she died leaving no 
child. All the country shuddered at the thought 
of a disputed succession. It would be worse than {^n <$ es " 
in the old days of the Wars of the Roses, because Elizabeth's 
there were two great religious parties which had m 
bitter reasons to hate each other. The true heir after Eliza- 
beth, according to the laws of inheritance, was the young 
queen of Scotland, who was descended from Henry VII. 's 
eldest daughter. But, there were strong objections to her as 
possible queen of England. She was married to the Dauphin 
of France, and in all likelihood would be queen of France in 
due course ; then England might become a mere province 
of France. Moreover, both France and Scotland were, as 
usual, quarrelling with England, and there was an old and 
deep antipathy between them both and this country. 

She was also a decided Roman Catholic. Judging by her 
actions, she was not in the least religious at heart, but that 
was the religion she professed and would favor and protect. 
This was enough to set all the Protestants against hei\ 
Elizabeth was implored to marry somebody, and the en- 
treaty was continued for years. She never would say no, 
and she never would say yes. This was her usual way in 
all matters, public and private; she seemed to enjoy playing 
with everybody ; keeping them in suspense, wondering, 
hoping, fearing ; whilst all the time she matured her plans 
in secret. She had many suitors — kings, dukes, archdukes; 
sometimes she appeared to favor one, and sometimes another, 
but in the end she would have none of them. 

It is difficult to say why she would not marry. The only 
man she seems to have really loved was Robert Dudley, 
Earl of Leicester, a handsome, flattering courtier; him she 
favored, and evidently liked so much that it was universally 
believed and feared that she meant to marry him. But his 
character was bad, and he had a wife already, who died in a 
very mysterious way ; and though it could never be proved 
that he had her murdered to make room for the queen, there 
was ground for the suspicion. The story is told in Scott's 
novel of " Kenilworth ; " but though that tale gives a very 



430 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

vivid picture of Elizabeth and Leicester, and of the people 
and manners of the time, and in that sense is perhaps poeti- 
cally true, it is not historically true, and the real facts about 
Amy Robsart were quite different. 

One reason for Elizabeth's refusing to marry may have 
been that there were those two strong religious parties in 
the kingdom, and she could not marry to please both. She 
contrived in a most wonderful way all through her long 
reign to keep both parties more or less loyal to her, and 
would have succeeded still more fully had it not been for 
her dangerous rival, Mary, Queen of Scots. 

Elizabeth was a Protestant, though hot at first very de- 
cided, except on the point of the supremacy of the crown, 
and its absolute independence of thje Pope. She was as 
determined as ever her father had been to be head of the 
Church. But she inclined to several things in the Roman 
Catholic Church to which the Protestants objected. She 
liked the celibacy of the clergy; she liked crucifixes, lighted 
candles, vestments, and an ornate service. Many 
?ans Puri " °^' tne ex ti't'me Protestants bitterly objected to all 
these, and because they said they wished for a purer 
service, they received the nickname of - Puritans. 

Cranmer and Ridley had tried to adopt a middle course, 
which might please all, or not greatly displease many. It 
did not seem to be understood that differences of opinion 
on such points were natural and quite harmless. It was 
thought essential that all the people of the land must have 
the same religion ; must go to the same churches, say the 
same prayers, and believe the same doctrines. 

It was too soon for the simple and sublime idea of tolera- 
tion of all honest opinions. Elizabeth and her counsellors 
were determined all the people in the country should go to 
church and use the Prayer-book ; they made that as easy 
as the) r could for them ; but those who would not conform, 
Avhether Catholics or Puritans, were persecuted with great 
impartiality. Though this was tyrannical, still they did not 
persecute as Mary and Bonner had done, for Elizabeth was 
not as cruel as her sister, and her prime minister, Burleigh 
(or Cecil), was always in favor of moderation. But the 
Protestant bishops and archbishops, Parker, Whitgift, and 
others, were as arbitrary and inquisitorial as any Pope or 
Dominican could be. (The Puritan clergy were deprived of 
their livings, sent to prison for holding private religious 



THE TWO QUEENS. 431 

meetings, and . oppressed in a great many ways, but they 
were not burned to death. 

The Catholics, however, were looked on as far more dan- 
gerous than the Puritans ; and the excited feeling between 
the two religious parties was kept at fever heat by 
the events which occurred abroad. In France the ^ s Cath " 
Catholic party, headed by the infamous Catherine 
de Medicis, the king's mother, had fallen upon the unsus- 
pecting Protestants, and murdered them by tens of thou- 
sands. The "Massacre of St. Bartholomew," as it 
is called, because it was begun on the morning of 
that saint's day, spread from Paris to many other towns, and 
went on for several days. The Catholics exulted in this 
treachery. Philip of Spain laughed aloud for joy. The 
Pope ordered a solemn Te Deum to be sung, and went in 
state to thank God. But in England the news w T as received 
with horror, and when the French ambassador presented 
himself in a propitiatory manner before the queen, he found 
her and the whole court dressed in deep mourning, and was 
received with sorrowful and indignant silence. 
/A great many people who suffered death in this reign, 
suffered for their religion. Elizabeth and her government 
averred it was not for religion, but for treason. Religion 
and politics were so interwoven that it was not easy to dis- 
tinguish them, and there is no doubt that many Catholics 
thought it a pious work to conspire against the Protestant 
queen. The most notable of these was Mary, Queen of 
Scots, whose execution is generally looked on as the dark- 
est blot in Elizabeth's reign. 

Mary was the next heir to the crown if Elizabeth left no 
child. But as she was a rigorous Catholic, in tenets at least, 
she would have been very distasteful to the Prot- 
estants in England. But there was a great deal g^Jg^ 
more against her. She had been many years in 
France, and when the Dauphin her husband died she re- 
turned to Scotland with her character already formed. 
Scotland had taken up the Reformation still more vigor- 
ously than England had done, and the Scotch reformers, 
with Knox at their head, were vehement and severe Puri- 
tans, very strict and stern. Mary was nineteen ; pleasure- 
loving, beautiful, and attractive ; so attractive that hardly 
any man could come near her through her whole life (except 
the stern John Knox) without being more or less captivated 



432 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

by her. But her character was self-indulgent and unprin- 
cipled. She conducted herself so disgracefully in Scotland, 

being charged at last with the murder of her sec- 

' ond husband, Darnley, and other horrible crimes, 

that, beautiful and fascinating as she was, the Scotch nation 

rose in rage and horror, and would not have her for their 

queen any longer. 

She fled to England, expecting that Elizabeth would take 
her part ; but the English government made her prisoner, 

and she was kept in England for nineteen years, 
' being considered too dangerous to be at liberty. 
But she was more dangerous as a prisoner than she could 
have been if set free. The Roman Catholics of England 
seem to have forgotten or disbelieved the crimes laid to her 
charge, and to have regarded her as a beautiful, persecuted 

saint. She had friends abroad too, in France and 
hh e pbts" m Spain. They all spent their lives in weaving 

plots for rescuing her, dethroning Elizabeth, and 
making her queen of. England. The Pope himself, Gregory 
XIII., gave his sanction to the nrarder of Elizabeth. 

Priests and Jesuits travelled through the country in dis- 
guise, to stir up the Roman Catholic gentry and others 
against the queen. One of them, Ballard, went about 
dressed as an officer, in a blue velvet jerkin, and a cap and 
feathers. The Queen of Scots and her attendants Avere 
very artful. They knew that any letters they sent openly 
Avould be intercepted and read by the government, but they 
found means to send out and to receive plenty of dangerous 
letters secretly. If a box of clothes or of books was sent 
to them from London or Paris, there would come letters en- 
closed in the frames of the boxes or hidden under the lining. 
Sometimes a small roll of paper would be sewn into the 
hollowed heel of a new boot or shoe. Sometimes a set of 
white handkerchiefs would be written all over with invisible 
ink. 

More than one rebellion broke out and was put down. 
Elizabeth's life was felt to be in such danger that a volun- 
tary association of loyal men was formed to protect her, 
vowing that they would have the life of anyone who should 
Babin - :lttern pt the death of their queen. At last one 
ton's con- more plot was made for assassinating Elizabeth and 
spiracy. resciI j n g Mary. Elizabeth had been very confiding 
to the Catholic gentry, hoping to win their fidelity and 



THE TWO QUEENS. 433 

affection, and she had many young Catholic gentlemen in 
her service and at court. Six of these, headed by one Bab- 
ington, pledged themselves to murder their mistress. The 
letters to and from Mary, who was imprisoned in Fotherin- 
gay Castle, in Northamptonshire, were carried in barrels of 
beer with false bottoms. Elizabeth and her secretary, Wal- 
singham, knew of it, for the brewer was a double traitor, and 
showed all the letters before delivering them. 

Elizabeth was courageous, and gave no sign till the right 
moment came. When sufficient evidence had been collected 
the conspirators were seized and tried. They confessed all. 
Mary declared to the last that she knew nothing about it ; 
and it is true that the letters were not in her own hand- 
writing; but if ever anything was clearly proved in this 
world, it was proved almost beyond a doubt that she did 
know and approve of all. 

The Protestant part of the country had long demanded 
her death, knowing that there would be no safety as long as 
she lived. Elizabeth had never yet brought herself to con- 
sent; she wished to spare Mary's life; but now, at last, it 
was too late. Babington's conspiracy, so deep-laid and so 
basely treacherous, could not be passed over. Mary was 
tried, found guilty, and condemned ; she maintained to the 
last that she was innocent, in the face of all the 1KQ - 

•1 "111 1 T • l0O7. 

evidence, and that she was a martyr to her religion. Execution 
She died very bravely and majestically, though Mai T 
there can hardly be a doubt that she died with a lie in her 
right hand. 

Elizabeth had been almost driven into signing her death 
warrant ; still she had done so. Now that all was over, she 
turned in a very paltry and unjust way upon her ministers, 
and laid it upon them, professing to be very indignant at 
what they had done, iter secretary, Davison, she punished 
very severely, and never took into favor again. In so incon- 
sistent a way were the elements of grandeur and meanness 
mingled in her character. 

After the death of Mary, the next heir to the throne was 
her son James, the king of Scotland; but as he, unlike his 
mother, was a Protestant, the Catholics both in England and 
abroad had no wish to see him king. Philip of Spain now 
once more saw an opportunity of reviving his old claims 
to be king of England himself. 

He was engaged in a war with his Protestant subjects in 



434 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the Low Countries, to whom he and the Duke of Alva, and 
Philip of the Inquisition, had been so intolerably cruel that 
Spain pre- they had risen in revolt. They looked to the Eng- 
fnvade t0 ^ sn Protestants for help. Elizabeth did help them 
England, a little, but in such a half-hearted, insincere, vacil- 
lating and niggardly way that she drove them and her own 
ministers to despair. Her treatment of these brave people 
is a far darker blot on her name than the execution of Mary 
Stuart. Nevertheless, as she did to a certain extent support 
them, Philip determined to invade England. The long ri- 
valry between him and Elizabeth came to a crisis ; and in 
the struggle the whole world saw at last what Englishmen 
were made of; for it was in truth "not by might, not by 
power," but by their gallant spirit aided by favoring ele- 
ments, that the proud foe was beaten off. 

Philip had a fine army, headed by a splendid general, the 
Prince of Parma, already assembled in the Low Countries. 
This army was to invade England and conquer the country ; 
but as they had only flat-bottomed boats and barges to 
transport them, it was necessary that a fleet of men-of-war 
should come and protect them against the English sailors. 
Philip began to prepare his fleet, which was the largest and 
finest the world had ever seen. 



CHAPTER XLV. 



GLORIANA. 



The Spanish Armada. The English fleet. The English sailors. The conflict. 
England's triumph. Literature. Shakespeare and the theatre. Death of 
Elizabeth. 

The Invincible Armada, as Philip's fleet was proudly 
named, consisted of a hundred and thirty ships, sixty-five 
of which were called galleons, and looked like floating cas- 
tles, they were so tall and strong ; four of them, 
more gigantic still, were called " galliasses." They j^fteet 11 " 
were provided with twenty-five hundred cannon, 
and vast stores of provisions ; they were commanded by 
the best naval officers of Spain, and contained also great 
numbers of the young nobility, who looked on the invasion 
of heretic England as a holy war. But below the decks 
were more than two thousand miserable slaves, chained to 
their oars, working with no heart, no courage, under the eye 
of ruthless masters armed with whips of bull's hide. 

When the English knew that the king of Spain was pre- 
paring to invade their country, their hearts rose as the heart 
of one man. The government appealed first to the 
Lord Mayor of London, asking what force the city 
would furnish in defence of the kingdom. The mayor and 
common council, in return, desired to know what force the 
queen's Highness wished them to furnish. The answer was, 
fifteen ships and five thousand men. Two days after, the 
Londoners "humbly entreated the council, in sign of their 
perfect love and loyalty to prince and country, to accept 
ten thousand men and thirty ships amply furnished." The 
Catholics were as loyal as the Protestants ; they forgot their 
divisions, and only remembered they were Englishmen. 

Still the English fleet was but a small one ; the queen's 
navy consisted of only thirty ships; about fifty 
others, many of them belonging to private indi- 1^ f e n e ?" 
viduals, joined the admiral, Lord Howard, of Efting- 

435 



436 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISToKY. 

ham, ;it Plymouth Harbor. These ships were very different 
from the stately Spanish vessels ; far the greater number of 
them were about the size of yachts. There were only four 
large ships, and those were hardly as large as the smallest of 
the galleons. 

The English sailors at this time were the wonder of the 
world for their bravery and enterprise. They had been in 
the frozen ocean of the north, trying to find a way to India 
in that direction; in the dangerous straits by Terra del 
Fuego; on the great Pacific Ocean, bringing home wonderful 
stories of their adventures with strange new plants and 
birds, great stores of gold which they took from the Spanish 
ships, above nil a spirit of daring which would shrink from 
no danger. The most famous of them was Sir Francis 
Drake, who had really done what Columbus hoped to do — 
sailed all round the world. The Spaniards knew Ins name 
well. He had already done things which would have seemed 
mad if they had not succeeded. He joined the English fleet 
with a few ships which were all devoted to him. 

The English army was set in readiness also, to dispute 
every inch of ground, in case the invaders should succeed 
in landing. .V camp was formed at Tilbury to protect the 
Th een c:, l'^ a '' an ^ thither went Elizabeth to encourage 
and the and cheer her soldiers. All that was noble and 
army. queenly in her rose to this emergency. She was 
warned by some of her counsellors to beware of treachery. 
But "No," said the queen, "I do not desire to live to mis- 
trust my faithful and loving people. Let tyrants fear; I 
have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have 
placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal 
hearts and goodwill of my subjects. 1 have the heart ox a 
king, and of a king of England too, and think foul seorn 
that Parma, or Spain, or any prince of Europe should dare 
to invade the borders of my realms."' 

The soldiers would have shed their blood for such a queen; 
but they were not called to fight. Not one Spaniard set foot 
on English ground but as a prisoner. The Spanish 
flict C ° n " sm l' s mailed up the Channel till they came to Dun- 
kirk, where Parma's army was waiting for them. 
The Euglish fleet, which was lying in the harbor of Plym- 
outh, let them pass, and then came out after them. The 
Spanish admiral wanted to close upon the English, to bring 
them to a definite engagement and crush them. But the 



GLORIANA. 437 

Englishmen managed shrewdly. The greal ships moved 
slowly and clumsily; they could get no pilots in England, 
of course, and the Dutch pilots, who were well acquainted 
with the Channel, were Protestants, and would not come. 
The Englisli ships moved so lightly and were bo cleverly 
handled that they seemed alive. A Spaniard said that "the 
swiftest ships in the Armada seemed to be at anchor" iii 
comparison with the dashing English vessels. It was the 
same with the cannon. The English fired four shots to the 
Spaniards' one; and their shots were well aimed and took 
effect, while the Spanish shots often flew wildly up in the 
air, or down in the sea, doing no harm. 

The Spaniards had never seen anything like it. They 
tried hard to close and grapple, hut they never could catch 
the English. So they went u]> the Channel towards Dover, 
the English behind harassing and tormenting them. As 
they went on, the young English lords and gentlemen, Cath- 
olics as well as Protestants, came out from every port, in 
any boat they could get hold of, to join the English fleet. 
From Lyme and Weymouth, from Poole and the Isle of 
Wight, they came, ever more and more. The Spanish ad- 
miral one evening could count a hundred sail behind him, 
and thought the number was still increasing. 

At last the Spaniards reached Calais; by this time there 
weir a hundred and forty English vessels. At night 
Howard sent six fire-ships among them, which terrified and 
confounded them still more. They tried to move on, and 
the English pursued them. The next day, from eight in 
the morning until sunset, the English poured their shot 
upon the Spanish vessels like rain. 

In this terrible week three great galleons had been sunk, 
and three more disabled; four thousand men had been killed ; 
the rest were disheartened. The Spaniards soon gave up 
all thought of invading England, of joining Parma's army; 
they were thinking only how to get back to Spain. 

There was no going back; the English fleet was still 
behind them, following them like a shadow. All they could 
do was to go on, sail round the Orkneys and west of Ire- 
land, and reach Spain in that way. But very few of them 
ever got back to Spain. If the queen of England had not 
been incredibly mean ami niggardly, Howard and Drake 
would have followed them till they were all destroyed or 
captured; but Elizabeth kept them so short of powder and 



438 GtTEST's ENGLISH HISTORY. 

shot, and so short of food, that when they had pursued them 
as far as the Forth they had to turn back and leave them. 

But they had a worse enemy than even the English to 
confront. When they arrived in those northern latitudes, 

terrible storms overtook them. The great ships 
e en ' made their way with difficulty ; they were sepa- 
rated from one another by fogs; they hardly knew where 
they were. The sailors fell sick and died by hundreds from 
cold and misery. When they came on the coast of Ireland, 
which is dangerous and rocky, it was still worse. Their 
supply of water was nearly gone. If they attempted to 
land, even to get fresh water, the Irish set on them and 
butchered them without mercy. At last a few wretched 
shattered ships began to appear on the coast of Spain. Day 
after day they came dropping in, laden with sick and dying 
men. Fifty-four in all came home; and so ended the great 
Spanish Armada, and the long rivalry between Philip and 
Elizabeth. 

The joy and thankfulness of the English nation knew no 
bounds. The queen went in state to St. Paul's to return 

thanks for the great deliverance, with the flags of 
England's ^] ie conquered enemy borne in triumph before her. 

The Protestants abroad shared in the joy of Eng- 
land. The dreadful power of Philip and Spain, which had 
so long threatened the Protestant world, Mas gone forever. 
The brave little provinces of the Netherlands, which had 
held out so long, but which it seems must have been over- 
matched and crushed at last, were free ; for England, the 
mainstay of their cause, was free. Well might Spenser say 
that 

"Albion the sonne of Neptune was." 

She could carry her commerce and plant her colonies wher- 
ever she pleased, in the Old World or the New. 

Never was Lady so praised, so honored, so worshipped as 
Elizabeth. 

' ' All princely graces 
That mould up such a mighty piece as this is, 
With all the virtues that attend the good, 
Shall still be doubled on her; truth shall nurse her, 
Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her. 



In her days, every man shall eat in safety 
Under his own vine what he. plants, and sing 



GLORIANA. 439 

The merry songs of peace to all his neighbors : 
God shall be truly known, and those about her 
From her shall read the perfect ways of honor." 

So wrote Shakespeare ; and Spenser — 

" Fairer and nobler liveth none this hour, 
Xe like in grace, ne like in learned skill; 
Therefore they Glorian call that glorious flower; 
Long mayst thou, Glorian, live in glory and great power!" 

If we must call this flattery, surely it was flattery that any 
queen, any woman, might be proud of. 

At this time of patriotism and of triumph, England's 
most glorious literature came into life. In the 
" golden days of good Queen Bess " there were ' erature - 
chroniclers, and travellers, and divines of unquestioned 
genius ; above all, there were poets who, by the glow of 
their own hearts, felt a life and soul in history, a tender and 
awful beauty in nature, a vastness and mystery in the heart 
and fate of man, and in his relations to his Maker, which 
enlarged the spiritual world in which we dwell more than 
ever Columbus had enlarged the natural one. 

To know what the poets of Elizabeth's age did for Eng- 
land and for the world, we must read the books they wrote. 
Everyone knows the names of Shakespeare, and Spenser, 
and Sidney ; there are others too whose names are not so 
famous, but who partook of the intellectual power of the 
age, — Jonson, Chapman, Green, Marlowe, Drayton, and 
many others ; for this wonderful literary activity went on 
through Elizabeth's reign. It was while she was queen that 
the first public theatre was opened. Little by little ig7 „ 
the old religious plays, the Mysteries and Miracles, The thea- 
which had been so popular in the middle ages, gave tre- 
way to the tragedies and comedies of real life, and most 
people would now- be shocked and pained to see sacred sub- 
jects brought upon the stage. There is still a lingering 
remnant of the old religious drama in what is now almost 
the least serious of all our exhibitions, the Christinas Pan- 
tomime. The ridiculous Pantaloon and Harlequin which 
delight the children's eyes are descended from the Devil and 
the Vice, who took parts, and generally grotesque or comic 
parts, in the old mysteries. 

The early theatres were very different from ours; there 
was no gaslight, no shifting scenery, no pictured back- 



440 GUEST'.S ENGLISH HISTOBY. 

grounds. The curtain was a blanket stretched across the 
front. When the scene changed, a board was hung out with 
a notice, This is London, or This is Kome, or Bohemia, or 
France. A great deal was left to the imagination of the 
spectators, and the good acting of the performers. Shake- 
speare himself, it is said, was not a great actor; his best part 
was the Ghost in Hamlet. 

The queen was fond of theatrical representations. When- 
ever she went to visit a nobleman, or a city, or a university, 
there would be a play or a pageant to welcome her. Some- 
times it would be what is called a masque, in which beautiful 
music, and singing, and dancing were added to the acting. 
But the glory and crown of all were the plays of 
sDifare" Shakespeare, and in them both Elizabeth and her 
jieople delighted. Everyone could find in them 
something which would suit the nature of his mind, and raise 
it to its highest strain. There was a great deal about the 
history and glory of England. There were lovely ladies and 
gallant heroes, philosophers and deep thinkers, priests and 
hermits, rogues and clowns, fairies and ghosts ; there were 
fun and wit, joy and love, sorrow, pity, and despair. It 
was a new world, of which he held the golden key. 

With all this activity of the intellect and imagination, 
practical work was not forgotten. In the latter part of 
Elizabeth's reign a serious attempt was made to 
The poor improve the condition of the poor. It has been 
already observed that the breaking up of the mon- 
asteries had deprived the poor of much of the charity and 
assistance on which they had been used to depend. Many 
idle people were driven to beg or steal, and many poor, and 
sick, and aged, to whom the monks and nuns had been kind, 
were left comfortless. Elizabeth's ministers, whilst they 
were very severe upon vagabonds, even putting them to 
death in great numbers, did their best to help and protect 
the unfortunate. They first introduced a "jx)or rate," some- 
thing like the one now established. 

The defeat of the Armada was the highest point of Eliza- 
beth's glory. Her later years were saddened and lonely. 
Her favorite, th# Earl of Leicester, the only man whom per- 
haps she really loved, died in the midst of the re- 
TheEarl joicings. Though she Avas now growing old, she 
soon after made another favorite of the young Earl 
of Essex. He was accomplished, high-spirited, and warm- 



GLORIANA. 441 

hearted ; lie bad a rare gift of winning love and admiration. 
Spenser, to whom he was a generous friend, calls him the 
"faire branch of Honour, Flower of Chivalrie." Elizabeth 
loved what was gracious, gay, and gallant ; but her partiality 
for the chivalrous young earl did him harm rather than good. 
He was placed in positions which required qualities 
he did not possess — caution, patience, and resolu- 
tion. He was sent as lord lieutenant to Ireland, where tbe 
people were again rebelling, and where a wise and firm ruler 
was much needed. Essex, 

" Great England's glory, and the world's wide wonder," 

was neither wise nor firm ; he did not know what to do, and 
having made an inglorious and useless peace, he returned 
home. Tliere he behaved so foolishly and imprudently that 
he was charged with high treason, found frailty, 
and beheaded. Elizabeth never could rally from 
this shock. She was almost seventy years old ; she had no 
near relations ; her old counsellors and ministers were all 
dead. She grew moody and suspicious, and her heart, she 
said, " was sad and heavy." 

When she was dying they tried to induce her to say who 
should succeed her. She made some indistinct sign, 1603 
which they thought meant James of Scotland. The Death of 
Archbishop of Canterbury, kneeling by her side, Ehzabeth - 
said some prayers which seemed to bring her comfort, and 
so died the last of the Tudors. 



CHAPTER XL VI. 



JAMES OF SCOTLAND. 



The Stuarts. The divine right of kin^s. James and the Church of England. 
The PnritanB and the Catholics, The Pilgrim Fathers. Gunpowder Treason. 

At last tin.' ancient prophecy seemed to be fulfilled; a 

Scotch king was seated on the sacred stone at Westminster 

and crowned king of England. After the fighting 

James' I an ^ ,A ' sc '° r ^ ot so 111:m . v hundred years, we may say 
that Edward I.'s will was accomplished, and one 
man was king over the whole island; and yet, too, Bruce's 
will was satisfied, for Scotland was free, and indeed gave 
the king to all. But the new monarch was no very kingly 
man, and the House of Stuart was the most unfortunate and 
the most unbearable of all the royal lines which England 
ever had. There is indeed a sort of romance about some of 
them, which makes their history fascinating; but there was 
nothing romantic about James I. 

The descriptions one reads of him are uniformly ridicu- 
lous. "Nature and education," writes Macaulay, ''had done 
their best to produce a finished specimen of all that a king 
ought not to be." Then he tells of "his awkward figure, 
his rolling eye, his rickety walk, liis nervous tremblings. 
. . . Tin* most ridiculous weaknesses seemed to meet in this 
wretched Solomon of Whitehall ; pedantry, buffoonery, gar- 
rulity, low curiosity, the most contemptible personal cow- 
ardice." One can hardly believe this was the son oi the 
beautiful and enchanting" Mary. 

James had a respectable amount of talent and intelligence, 
but he had no dignity, no majesty either of character or 
presence. Though he was fond of theological studies, and 
even wrote some books on those subjects; though he had 
a new edition, and in part a new translation, of the English 
Bible published, and is complimented in the preface as being 
"a most tender and loving nursing father to the Church, 

442 



JAMES OF SCOTLAND. 443 

yet liis private life was immoral, and liis court was utterly 
disgraceful. Some of the best poets and dramatists of liis 
time, when they imitated the manners and talk of James's 
courtiers, produced plays which are so shameless and coarse 
that it would be a disgrace to look at them. 

He and all the Stuarts had as much love of arbitrary gov- 
ernment as the Tudors, but they had not what the Tudors 
had, the gift of seeing and understanding when they might 
have their own way and when they must yield. When the 
masterful Elizabeth saw that her will clashed with the will 
of the nation, she could he wise and give in ; hut the Stuarts 
never did nor could see that. It was in their time that the 
great struggle came, and it was shown to all kings and to all 
people that England was a free country, whose kings must 
rule according to the laws and the will of the people, or they 
should not rule at all. It was a hard struggle, and cost one 
of the Stuarts his life and another his throne; but it was 
fought to the end, and will never have to lie fought again. 

James I., though he was tolerated, and died peaceably, 
king both of England and Scotland, began the contest, little 
imagining what he was doing. He was a strict Protestant, 
for, having been separated from his mother all his life, he 
had been brought up by the Scotch Reformers. The Scotch 
had gone much farther in their reformation than the English 
had done. They did not permit many things which the 
Church of England approved, such as for the clergymen to 
wear a white surplice, or to make the sign of the cross in 
baptism ; they disliked, indeed, the whole English Liturgy. 
But most of all they objected to bishops and archbishops; 
they believed that the Church ought only to be governed by 
presbyters, or priests, and that all bishops were unscriptural. 
The greater part of the Scotch people hold the same opinion 
now, and the Established Church of Scotland is called Pres- 
byterian because they have no bishops, but only presbyters. 
The word "presbyter" is taken from a Greek word meaning 
"elder," and the word "priest" is only the same shortened 
down. 

When James, however, went to England, he at once 

attached himself to the Episcopalian Church, and the bishops 

attached themselves to him. The Church of Enff- , , 

,,,-,, , . . .1 .•, ° James and 

land had changed in some respects since the time theChurch 
of Cranmer and Ridley; and though they had not ° fEn & land - 
drawn nearer to Koine, for they were still as strong against 



444 g test's exglisii histoey. 

the Pope as ever, they had to a certain extent inclined to- 
wards some of the Catholic doctrines. 

They considered that no church could be a church with- 
out bishops; for they believed that supernatural powers had 
descended to them from the apostles, and that no clergyman 
.was properly a clergyman who had not been ordained by the 
laying - on of their hands. They inclined to favor the celi- 
bacy of the clergy; they did all they could to make the 
Church service more ornamental, by handsome vestments, 
painted windows, and other decorations. Thus they and 
the Puritans drew farther and farther apart. The same 
parties still continue to exist in England. There is the 
High Church, or Ritualistic party; there is the Low Church 
party, who resemble the old Puritans somewhat ; and there 
are various bodies of Dissenters or Nonconformists, who are 
also like the Puritans in some ways. But now they live 
side by side very peaceably. 

The king and the Church were very closely bound to- 
gether. The Church began to hold ami teach the doctrine 
of the divine right of kings, which it is said James I. in- 
vented. It was claimed that whatever sort of man a king 
The divine m ig ut De > however lie governed or misgoverned, if 
right of he were the heir by right of birth, being the eldest 

&s ' son, or descended from the eldest son, of the last 
king, he was appointed by God king of the land, and no 
Christian might oppose him. This doctrine is evidently 
quite contrary to the whole history of England, in the course 
of which no king was crowned till he had sworn to obey the 
laws, to govern justly, and protect the rights and liberty 
of his subjects. If he broke his vow he was either brought 
to reason, and compelled to amend, or he was got rid of in 
one way or another. Nor is this doctrine to be found in the 
Bible. As Macaulay points out, Ave should perhaps judge 
from that that younger sons, not elder ones, w r ere the favor- 
ites of Heaven. Jacob was not the eldest son of Isaac, nor 
Judah of Jacob, nor David of Jesse, nor Solomon of David. 

This doctrine, however, became the favorite doctrine of 
the High Church party, and the kings, on their part, favored 

m . . and protected the Church and the bishops with all 
Treatment , . * . .. . , . ,. J , u V1 

of the their power. And between them they dealt with 
Puritans. t j ie p ur it ans in a high-handed way. We have a 
specimen in the answer James gave to some remonstrance 
about the use of the surplice, and the signing of the cross in 



JAMES OF SCOTLAND. 445 

baptism : " If, after the gospel's preaching forty-five years 
among you, there be any yet unsatisfied, I doubt it proceeds 
rather out of stubbornness of opinion than out of tenderness 
of conscience, and therefore let them conform themselves, or 
else they shall hear farther of it." Hearing farther of it 
generally meant fines and imprisonment. 

The Puritans, being oppressed, and not even allowed to 
meet quietly for prayer and preaching in private houses, 
began to think of leaving the country altogether. A great 
many Englishmen had been to America, and had perceived 
how excellent a land it would be for English colonists. The 
English sailors were always bringing home wonderful stories 
of the Indies, as they were still called. The Puritans re- 
solved to seek liberty there ; and though the government 
strove to prevent their leaving the country, some of 
the most resolute among them sailed away over the ThePi'l- 
Atlantic in a little vessel called the Mayflower. grim 
They gave up the native land which they dearly Fathers - 
loved, their homes, their friends, all that they had, and they 
landed on a wild, rough, desolate coast of North America, 
seeking "freedom to worship God." They named their 
adopted country "New England," with a loving thought 
of the old England they had left behind. These brave men, 
the " Pilgrim Fathers," as we call them, were among the 
founders of the great American nation. More and more 
followed them, as they could, looking on America as a sort 
of promised land. The government, which would give them 
no peace while they stayed in England, always opposed their 
going away. In the next reign, when a party of Puritans 
were making ready to follow their brethren, the govern- 
ment interfered, and entirely prevented their departure. 
Among this party were Pym, Hampden, and Oliver Crom- 
well, and, as Hume dryly remarks, "the king had full leisure 
afterwards to repent this exercise of his authority." 

One of the most enterprising of the travellers who brought 
back tales from America was Sir Walter Raleigh, a gallant 
and chivalrous man, who had been a great favorite 
with Queen Elizabeth, and had named one of the | ir , Walter 
new-found States " Virginia," in her honor. Be- a eig 
sides his stories of adventure, he brought to England, what 
has proved far more valuable than all the gold of Mexico, 
the potato, which is so largely used now on the tables of rich 
and poor. He also introduced a more questionable novelty 



446 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

— tobacco ("divine tobacco," his friend Spenser calls it); 
and the story is well known that his servant, for the first 
time seeing his master smoking, threw a bucket of water over 
him, supposing him to be on fire. James I. thought the smok- 
ing of tobacco a detestable custom, and wrote a book against 
it, but he could not prevent the new luxury from becoming 
very popular. James Avas very cruel and unjust to Sir 
Walter Raleigh ; he imprisoned him on a charge of treason 
and kept him for many years in the Tower, where Raleigh 
beguiled his time in writing, or beginning to write, " The 
History of the World." Prince Henry, James's eldest son, 
who had more sympathy and a gentler mind than his father, 

felt great shame at Raleigh's treatment, and won- 
• dered how his father "could keep such a bird in 
such a cage." Raleigh at last ended his life on the scaffold, 
grieved and lamented over by everyone. 

James, having become what may be called a High Church- 
man, was not content with persecuting the Puritans ; he was 

equally rigorous with the Roman Catholics. They 
Catholics P erna P s hoped that, as they had always sided with 

his mother Mary, he would be more indulgent to 
them than Elizabeth had been, but they found themselves 
mistaken. And it must have made an impression on the 
minds of the people of England to observe the contrast 
between them and the Puritans in their way of meeting 
the hard treatment of the government. The Puritans en- 
deavored quietly to leave the country; the Catholics made 
plots and conspiracies. They had already been quite accus- 
tomed to this mode of action during the days of Elizabeth, 
and now they began again. It was early in the reign of 
James I. that the most famous of all their plots, the " Gun- 
powder Treason," was devised. 

It was a deep-laid plot, and was darkly brooded over for 
many months before it was discovered. The object was, as 
1604 * ne cons ph'ators hoj:>ed, to get rid of all their ene- 
Gunpow'der mies at one stroke, by blowing up the House of 
plot. Parliament on the day of its assembling. The king- 

would be there in state to open the session ; with him would 
be his eldest son, Prince Henry. They and all the lords, the 
bishops, and the commons, would be destroyed at once ; one 
of the younger princes should then be proclaimed king, and 
educated as a Roman Catholic. The plot was very nearly 
brought to perfection. The barrels of gunpowder were laid 



JAMES OF SCOTLAND. 447 

in readiness under the Parliament House, hidden under piles 
of fagots. A fearless and fanatical man stood ready to light 
the fatal train. 

One of the traitors, a Northamptonshire gentleman named 
Tresham, had felt some relentings towards his brother-in- 
law, Lord Monteagle, who would be sure to be in his place 
in the House of Lords, and would perish with the rest. He 
wrote him an anonymous letter, in a feigned hand, hinting 
at some terrible blow which the Parliament would receive, 
and warning him, as he valued his life, to keep away. This 
letter, being shown to the king and his ministers, led to the 
discovery of the plot before it was too late. Guy Fawkes 
was seized in the cellar; the rest of the conspirators were 
pursued, and either died in defending themselves, or were 
taken, tried, and executed. 

This Gunpowder Treason had something demoniacal about 
it. The darkness and mystery, the terribleness of a sudden 
exjjlosion which would give no warning, the awful cruelty of 
involving innocent people in the punishment which was sup- 
posed to be due to the guilty, and its having so very nearly 
succeeded, struck the whole nation with horror, and remains 
still one of the most vivid memories in the imagination of 
the people. Still it is only just to remark that only eighty 
men, at most, knew of its existence, and it would be entirely 
wrong to lay it on the Roman Catholics in general, most of 
whom probably thought it quite as wicked as the Protest- 
ants did. 

The conspirators, however, believed themselves to be 
engaged in a noble and sacred work. One of them, a 
gentleman of high character and unblemished reputation, 
Sir Everard Digby, wrote to his wife after his condemna- 
tion : "Now for my intention ; let me tell you that if I had 
thought there had been the least sin in the plot, I would not 
have been in it for all the world ; and no other cause drew 
me to hazard my fortune and my life but zeal to God's reli- 
gion.'' 

It is said that Digby and some of the others, notably Guy 
Fawkes, died very penitently and devoutly. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

THE KING AND THE PARLIAMENT. 

The royal prerogative. The Parliament. Charles I. The Cavaliers and the 
Roundheads. Strafford and Laud. Ship-money. Hampden. The Prayer- 
book in Scotland. 

It was not only in religions matters that James showed 

his arbitrary spirit, and alienated many of his people. He 

„,, , wished to be supreme in all points, and to have the 

The royal , . . i ,. TTT x . A , ' . ., 

prerog- authority of Henry VIII. without possessing the 

atlve - intellect or character of that able prince. The ex- 
act power which lawfully belonged to the king was not at 
that time very clearly defined, nor can it be said to be so 
now. The royal prerogative is a shadowy thing, which 
seems in theory to be very great, but which may shrink to 
almost nothing unless the sovereign and the nation are of 
one mind. The Tudors had felt this by instinct, if they did 
not know it ; but the Stuarts neither felt it nor knew it. 

At this period, in other countries as well as in England, 
the monarchs became more despotic than they had ever been 
yet; in some of them the last traces of liberty disappeared. 
The kings of Spain became utter tyrants. In France, too, 
the national assemblies of the people ceased, and the king 
and nobles did as they pleased, without any check upon 
them. But in England the people Avere better off, because 
Parliament never came to an end. 

During the reigns of the Tudors, it is true, the Parliaments 
had been very meek and submissive, and had almost always 

done what the king or queen desired ; but out- 
hament" war dly they had all their old powers and rights, 

and neither king nor queen ever professed to act 
without their consent. Under the Stuarts the Parliaments 
were no longer meek and submissive; they remembered 
their duties and their privileges, and stood up like men to 
defend them. They fell back on the right which their pred- 
ecessors had exercised so manfully in days of old, and would 

448 



THE KING AND THE PARLIAMENT. 449 

give the king no money until he had redressed their griev- 
ances. Then the king in his turn fell back on the old plan 
of Edward IV., and tried to levy " benevolences." He could 
not have done much by force, even if he had desired it, be- 
cause he had no army. Elizabeth's whole standing army is 
said to have consisted of a hundred beef-eaters,* and James 
had no hope of getting more. 

James, like many other kings, made favorites, and such as 
the nation could not respect. The principal one Th D , 
was George Villiers, who was afterwards made of Buck- 
Duke of Buckingham, but whom the king always in S ham - 
called Steenie, because he thought him like a picture he had 
seen of the martyr Stephen. " Steenie " does not seem to 
have had anything else saint-like about him, and his princi- 
pal recommendations were that he danced and dressed beau- 
tifully. He treated the king with the greatest familiarity 
and insolence, which seemed to please James, but disgusted 
the nation. 

But a far more sad and shameful thing than the follies of 
a worthless courtier occurred during this reign — the dis- 
grace of the most eminent man in the whole kingdom; one 
of the greatest men, indeed, whom England has ever pro- 
duced. This was the famous Lord Bacon, who 
was lord chancellor of England, but whose great £ ord 
fame rests upon his writings and his studies more 
than on his high position. He has been long looked on as 
the father of modern science, though it is now supposed by 
some competent authorities that his work has been somewhat 
overrated. He carried on the ideas of his great old name- 
sake, Roger Bacon, by teaching men to observe Nature, and 
to learn from her instead of busying themselves with words 
and phrases of their own manufacture. 

He had grand thoughts and clothed them in noble words, 
but it is unfortunately true that neither thoughts nor words 
could help him to live a noble life. Most of his books were 
written in Latin, but one was in English, a little book of 
essays, which are full of wise thoughts, very forcibly ex- 
pressed, about matters of constant and practical interest. 
They are about envy, truth, death, parents and children, 
marriage and single life. One is about "judicature." It 
shows that he had reflected gravely on the responsibilities 

* Beef-eaters, corrupted from buffetiers, personal attendants. 



450 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOilY. 

of a judge's office. "The place of justice," he wrote, "is an 
hallowed place ; and therefore not only the bench, but the 
foot pace and precincts thereof ought to be preserved with- 
out scandal and corruption." "Judges should imitate God, 
in whose place they sit." Yet the man who wrote this, the 
highest judge in the land, was charged with taking bribes, a 
hundred pounds from one ; three or four hundred 
' pounds from another. He was found guilty, ad- 
mitted the justice of the charge with shame and penitence, 
and was degraded from his high office by the king and Par- 
liament. 

In his case the world seems to have quite reversed Shake- 
speare's aphorism, — 

" The evil that men do lives after them; 
The good is oft interred with their bones." 

For the sake of his great works as a philosopher and a 
writer, his name is held in honor, and his faults and infirmi- 
ties pardoned. 

James continued to go contrary to the wishes of his peo- 
ple in most matters to the end of his reign. They earnestly 
desired him to help the cause of the Protestants abroad. 
His own daughter, Elizabeth, who was so gracious and beau- 
tiful that she was called the Queen of Hearts, had married 
a Protestant German prince, the Elector Palatine Frederic, 
who was afterwards elected king of Bohemia. He 
was in great need of help and support ; but though 
the country implored James to take his part, he would not 
do so. 

It was still more offensive to the English that he actually 
wished to make friends with Spain. He seemed to forget 
the past, — the cruelty of Philip, the dread of the Armada. 
and the triumph and deliverance of England, — and wished 
to marry his son to a Spanish princess. His eldest son, 
Henry, having died very young, the second, Charles, became 
heir to the throne, and it was proposed that he should take 
a Spanish wife. Charles and the favorite Bucking- 
" ham went off in disguise to Spain, but on their way 
thither, passing through Paris, Charles saw a French princess 
who attracted him. Nevertheless he went on and saw the 
Spanish princess also; he dallied and played with the Span- 
iards, making them believe that he fully intended to marry 
her ; but as soon as he returned to England he broke off the 
match. 



THE KING AMD THE PARLIAMENT. 451 

This insincerity and deceit did not promise very well for 
the honor of the future king of England, but the people 
were so delighted to be freed from the fear of a Spanish 
alliance that they were inclined to overlook all that was bad 
in their prince's conduct, and were willing for him to marry 
the French princess, Henrietta Maria. But before the mar- 
riage had taken place James I. died, and he became king as 
Charles L 

The new king was a great contrast to his father. James 
was insignificant and contemptible in his looks and manners ; 
Charles was royal, dignified, and handsome. In 
manners he was every inch a gentleman ; he was Qkarfis I 
also a scholar and (in his own way) a Christian. 
His private character, too, was unlike James's ; he was pure 
in life, a faithful husband, and a loving father. We seem to 
know his beautiful and melancholy face very well from the 
portraits which he left behind him. Had he been vulgar, 
undignified, and .clownish, there would not have been such 
discordant opinions about him ami his character. His great- 
est fault was that he never could be trusted to keep his 
promises ; he was fond of bidding Parliament rely on his 
"royal word," but he was not at all particular as to. observ- 
ing it. 

He had already in his love-making shown a specimen of 
this fatal defect in his character. The new French queen, 
and still more her attendants, soon became very 
distasteful to the nation, chiefly on account of their The queen< 
religion. It was believed that some of the Catholic priests 
who had followed the queen from France "had not only 
practised with the Pope on the one side, and the English 
Papists on the other, but had had intelligence also with the 
Spaniard." There is a very amusing contemporary letter 
about these attendants of the queen. The priests who 
attended on her, says the writer, " were the most super- 
stitious, turbulent, and Jesuited priests that could be found 
in all France, very fit to make firebrands of sedition in a 
foreign state." The king found it necessary to order all 
these " hypocritical dogs," besides numbers of ladies and 
servants, to quit the country. When it was made known 
that they were to go away, " the women howled and lament- 
ed as if they were going to execution," and the queen, it 
was said, "grew very impatient, and brake the glass win- 
dows with her fist ;" but Charles held to his purpose; and 



452 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

though he rewarded them handsomely, they had to go. He 
knew very well how to be peremptory, and could 
use language, at this period at least, not quite befit- 
ting a "ro} r al saint." Witness this letter of his, entirely in 
his own hand, to the Duke of Buckingham, "for the final 
driving away of the Monsieurs." 

" Steexie, — I have received your letter by Die Graeme ; 
this is my answer. I command you to send all the French 
away to-morrow out of the town. If you can, by fair means 
(but stick not long in disputing) ; otherwise force them 
away, driving them away like so many wild beasts, until ye 
have shipped them, and so the devil go with them. Let me 
hear no answer but of the performance of my command." 

Charles's reign was almost entirely taken up with strife 
between himself and his friends on one side, and the Parlia- 
ment and their supporters on the. other. The two 
offtrife n?S S veat parties into which they gradually formed 
themselves came to be called the Cavaliers and the 
Roundheads ; afterwards they received the names of Whigs 
and Tories, and they were, we may say, the fathers of the 
present Conservatives, and the Radicals or Liberals; only 
the two parties now are far nearer together than they were 
then, and instead of war to the knife, they oppose one an- 
other in a lawful and constitutional manner, by electing 
members of Parliament, whose votes decide the policy of 
the nation. 

Charles's party appear the most attractive in tales, and 
look the best in portraits. He had on his side nearly all the 
nobility, and most of the country gentlemen, men 
hers Cava " °^ birth an( l good breeding, faithful, loyal, devoted, 
and honorable. He had also the bishops and clergy, 
and the universities, nearly all of what are called the higher 
classes, and who were greatly afraid of lawlessness and the 
violence of the mob. The Cavaliers had a stately air, wore 
long hair, fine lace collars and ruffles, and looked aristocratic. 
There were, however, besides these, many gay young fellows 
of lower birth, who joined the king's party because they 
hated the strictness of the Puritans. 

The other side comprised but few of the nobility and 
higher gentry; but nearly all the middle ranks, the mer- 
chants, the shopkeepers, and the country farmers or yeomen. 



THE KING AND THE PARLIAMENT. 453 

The true hearts, the religion, and love of liberty of these 
men were glorious, and for the lasting good of Enff- 
land, but they were not so romantic or imposing wfds " 
as the Cavaliers. Indeed, in some ways they had 
already begun to make themselves ridiculous. They had not 
the good taste to avoid absurdity and exaggeration, nor the 
sense to see Avhat points were of real consequence and what 
were not. They also began to read the Old Testament more 
than the New, and to think that all things which the Jews 
had done of old were still the right things for Christians to 
do ; thus they became tierce and vindictive. They called 
Sunday the sabbath, and wished to have it observed as 
strictly as the Jews observed the seventh day. The most 
harmless amusements they considered sinful. " It was* a 
sin," says Macaulay, "to hang garlands on a May-pole, to 
drink a friend's health, to fly a hawk, to hunt a stng, to play 
at chess, to wear love-locks (as the long curls of the Cava- 
liers were called), to put starch into a ruff, to read the 
'Fairy Queen.'" "To know Avhether a man was really 
godly was impossible. But it was easy to know whether he 
had a plain dress, lank hair, no starch in his linen, no gay 
furniture in his house, whether he talked through his nose 
and showed the whites of his eyes, whether he named his 
children Assurance, Tribulation, and Maher-shalal-hashbaz." 

This picture is not exaggerated. They often changed 
their own names from Henry or Edward to such as they 
thought had a more pious sound, and would either choose a 
name out of the Old Testament, like Hezekiah or Habakkuk, 
or some religious word or phrase which was not even a name 
at all. There was one rather famous Puritan, soon after this 
time, named Praise-God Barebone ; and a list is given by 
Hume of the names of twelve -men who were said to have 
served on one jury, among which were Accepted, Redeemed, 
Kill-sin, and Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith. 

All this was very absurd and irritating, and their gloomi- 
ness and severity were very unlike Christ's religion. But 
the true Puritans were great and grand men, never- 
theless. In the beginning they were less austere ^fifaders 
and more liberal. The great poet Milton was one ; 
but he loved music, poetry, and art ; there was nothing 
narrow or sour about him ; and his face was as beautifid, as 
noble, as refined, as Charles's own. The early leaders of the 
Puritan party, the party of freedom in the coming struggle, 



454 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

had none of that littleness or bitterness in their spirit ; they 
were country gentlemen, well educated and well born, who 
were representing their counties as members of Parliament. 
The names of the most eminent were Eliot, Pym, and 
Hampden ; the two latter were among those whom Charles 
prevented from emigrating to America. Hampden was per- 
haps the noblest and most perfect of the Puritan gentlemen. 
Of the king's ministers, the most celebrated were a 
layman, Strafford, and an archbishop, Laud. Strafford, or 
Wentworth, as he was at first called, was a strong, 

3i; k J?f' s resolute man, who beojan by being on the side of 
ministers. ' <? » " 

the people, and opposing the tyranny of the king, 
but afterwards changed entirely, and was more arbitrary 
and despotic than ever Charles himself would have been. 

Laud was the head of the High Church party. He con- 
sidered himself a strict Protestant, but other people thought 
that his great love of ceremonies would lead him to Pome 
by and by. Fuller tells us of a lady (still living when lie 
Avrote his history) "who, turning Papist, and being de- 
manded of the archbishop the cause of her changing her 
religion, tartly returned, 'My lord, it was because I ever 
hated a crowd.' And being desired to explain her meaning 
herein, 'I perceived,' said she, 'that your lordship and many 
others are making for Pome as fast as ye can and, therefore, 
to prevent a press, I went before you.'" 

Of these chiefs of the rival parties, Eliot died in prison, 
Hampden was killed in battle, Strafford and Laud were be- 
headed. Very few of the eminent men of those days came 
to a peaceful end. 

The contest began at once, in the first Parliament in 
Charles's reign. The king wished for money; the commons 
wished the redress of grievances. They especially demanded 
the dismissal of the Duke of Buckingham, who was as great a 
favorite with Charles as he had been with his father. The 
king would not redress the grievances, nor would he give 
up Buckingham ; the commons therefore refused to grant 
the money. Charles then dissolved the Parliament, and 
tried to get money without their consent. He laid on taxes 
called tonnage and poundage (duties paid upon every tun 
of wine or pound of merchandise brought into the country 
from abroad) by his own authority, and he tried to force 
rich men to lend money. Many rich people, Hampden 
among them, refused to lend, and were put in prison. The 



THE KING AND THE PARLIAMENT. 455 

poorer people who were inclined to resist were pressed into 
the fleet, or compelled to enter the army. 

Still the king could not get nearly as much money as he 
wanted, especially as there was again a wretched little war 
with France going on; he was obliged to summon Parlia- 
ment once more, and to set the gentlemen whom he had 
imprisoned at liberty. 

The Parliament was again quite ready to give him money 
if he would redress their grievances, but not without. He 
delayed and hung back as long as he could ; the Par- 
liament at last laid before him what is called the ThePe'ti- 
" Petition of Right," which was almost as impor- ^°£! h ° f 
tant and as precious as Magna Charta itself. The 
principal things on which it insisted were, that the king 
should raise no taxes without the consent of the Parliament, 
and that no man should be imprisoned except in a lawful 
way. Charles was as sorry to sign this as John had been to 
sign Magna Charta, but he was obliged to do it; and the 
Parliament then granted him a large sum of money. 

Everything, however, went wrong ; the war was unsuccess- 
ful and inglorious ; and the Duke of Buckingham, who was 
at the head of it, was murdered in the streets of Portsmouth. 
The king broke all his promises, and went on raising money 
by the taxes of tonnage and poundage, without the consent 
of Parliament, and in defiance of the "Petition of Right" 
which he had signed. Parliament then declared 
that whoever paid those taxes was an enemy to 1629# 
the liberties of England. The king forbade the members to 
discuss the matter at all ; and when they refused to obey 
him, he dissolved the House, and put some of the members 
in prison. One of these was Sir John Eliot, who never 
lived to come out again. 

The king now determined to go on without Parliament 
at all, and it was eleven years before it met again. Those 
were eleven terrible years of despotism and cruelty. There 
were two councils or courts which, though they had The Hi h 
existed before, had not as yet done much mischief, Commission 
but which now became the main instruments of the'star 
tyranny, called the High Commission Court and the Chamber. 
Star Chamber. They had the power of punishing anyone 
for what they called contempt of the king's authority, with- 
out any legal trial or means of defending himself. Strafford 
and Laud had all their own way. Laud looked after the 



456 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

religious affairs, and the Puritans were treated with pitiless 
cruelty. They were imprisoned, whipped, and branded with 
red-hot irons ; their ears were cut off. They fled from the 
country when they could, though they were not even allowed 
to do that in peace. 

Strafford, on his part, gave his mind to the other depart- 
ment. He formed a great scheme, which he called by the 
The scheme expressive name of "Thorough." This scheme was 
"Thor- to make the king absolute; to put all the people, 
0U S h -" their liberty and their property, entirely in his 
power, so that he might imprison or tax them as he pleased ; 
to put his will above the laws, and above the judges and 
the rights of the people. Being a wonderfully strong-minded 
man, Strafford did much towards establishing his scheme. 
He was for some time governor in the north of 

1 England, and he and his council at York defied 

the law and set up the royal power to such a point that 
it was as if Magna Chart a had never existed. He went 
afterwards to Ireland, and did the same there. 

But though he had appeared to succeed so far, he felt 
that there was one weak point ; the oppression might be so 
intolerable that the people would rise and rebel. This had 
often happened already in England. The king had no 
army; the hundred beefeaters or a few household guards 
would not avail much against a nation in arms. In France, 
where the king was now quite despotic, he had a standing 
army at his back. Strafford saw that to make his scheme 
"Thorough" work, the king must have an army too. But 
here was a great difficulty ; for a standing army is expensive, 
and the king could get no money. 

The Crown lawyers and Strafford between them thought 
of what seemed a very crafty expedient. They dared not 
make any new taxes, so they fell back upon a very old one; 
so old, however, and so altered by them, that it almost 
seemed new. 

In former times, when there was danger of invasion, and 

before the nation had a regular fleet, the government had 

been used to call on the counties and large towns on 

Shi P- the sea-coast to provide shios to defend the country. 
money. ~ . . „ ,* 1 , -, •, . -, t 

Sometimes, it these towns had no ships ready or t<> 

spare, the king would take money from them instead, and lit 

out ships himself. Strafford and his associates de- 

1637- termined to try this old plan again. But ships or 



THE KING AND THE PARLIAMENT. 40l 

ship-money had never been asked for except in times of war, 
and now it was a time of peace. Nor had it ever been 
asked for except from places on the coast ; now it was de- 
manded from all the inland counties too. Moreover, ship- 
money had never been wanted except for fitting out ships ; 
now the king was to do what he pleased with it; and the 
thing which lie would please to do would, no doubt, be to 
raise an army. 

This was a very terrible state of things; the whole conn- 
try was alarmed and indignant. Some brave men, and 
notably Hampden, who lived in Buckinghamshire, 
a long way from the sea, had the courage to refuse amp en ' 
to pay. It was a very small sum which was demanded of 
him, not more than a few shillings ; but he saw that the 
matter at stake was nothing less than the liberty of Eng- 
land. His cause was tried before twelve judges ; but 
judges at this time were almost tools of the king, who could 
set them up and put them down at his pleasure^ and the 
majority gave judgment against Hampden. Even of those 
twelve, however, five were opposed to the king, and only 
seven were on his side, so that the decision was looked on 
almost as a victory to Hampden. He was honored and ad- 
mired more than ever by the people, and more and more in- 
dignation was felt against the king and Strafford. 

As if the king had not yet done mischief enough by alien- 
ating the people of England, he turned and exasper- 
ated Scotland. It was not by unjust taxes, but by £he a Scotch d 
an aggression which they resented still more deeply, 
— an attack on their religion. We saw how far the Scotch 
Protestants had carried the Reformation ; they detested the 
Church of England and its bishops nearly as bitterly as the 
Church of Rome and its Pope. They put Popery and Prel- 
acy together, and they hated the English Prayer-book, the 
communion-service, the surplice, and the ceremonies vehe- 
mently. Just at this moment Charles and Archbishop Laud 
determined to compel the Scotch to use the liturgy of the 
English Church in all their churches. 

The Scotch, who had always been a turbulent and ungov- 
ernable people, and who saw with great jealousy their 
Scotch kings turning into Englishmen, and Scotland sinking 
as thev had feared into an appanage of England, re- 
gented this last insult and aggression more than all. 
They broke out into insurrection, as the Devonshire Cath- 



458 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY, 

olics had done, on the same provocation. The rising began 
on a Sunday — the first Sunday when the Prayer-hook was 
to be read in the church. "No sooner was the book opened 
by the Dean of Edinburgh," — it is Phillips, Milton's 
nephew, who tells the story, — " but a number of the meaner 
sort, with clapping of their hands, and outcries, made a great 
uproar ; and one of them, called Jane or Janot Gaddis (yet 
living at the writing of this relation), flung a little folding- 
stool whereon she sat at the dean's head, saying, • Out, thou 
false thief ! dost thou say the mass at my lug (ear) ? ' Which 
was followed with so great a noise" that the service could not 
go on at all. "All Edinburgh, all Scotland, and behind that 
all England and Ireland," says Carlyle, " rose into unap- 
peasable commotion on the flight of this stool of Jenny's." 

The king tried to put down the rebellion, but he had not 
soldiers enough, nor money enough. He and Strafford 
could see no alternative before them, after the eleven years 
they had had their own way, but to call a Parliament again ; 
they dared not make any more attempts to raise taxes ille- 
gally, lest England should flame up as Scotland had done. 

But when Parliament met, and showed ever so mildly a 
desire to have the bitter grievances of those eleven years 
looked into, the king, who could never learn wisdom, nor see 
that he was walking over a mine of gunpowder, sent them 
about their business. He tried once more to govern at his 
pleasure, and even more tyrannically still. Ship-money was 
levied with increased rigor; soldiers were enlisted by force. 
But these soldiers did him no good ; they were 
" more inclined to side with the nation, and did not 
wish to fight the Scotch. Everything went so ill that he 
was obliged to summon another Parliament. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 



THE CIVIL WAR. 



The Long Parliament. The five members The war begins. Oliver Cromwell. 
His army. Trial and execution of the king. The military despotism. Battle 
of Worcester. 

When the Parliament first met, all the members seem to 
have been of one mind. The government had been so fla- 
grantly oppressive and tyrannical that no one 
attempted to defend it. They all set vigorously to Meeting of 
work to restore freedom. The king could make no the Long 
head against them. Those odious courts, the High 
Commission, the Star Chamber, and the Council of York, 
were abolished at once ; ship-money was declared illegal, and 
it was decreed that no interval of more than three years 
should ever elapse between Parliament and Parliament. 
Next they resolved to punish the tyrants. No one dreamed 
yet of punishing the king; but they were determined to be 
rid of those who had helped and advised him, especially of 
Strafford and Laud. 

Both these were imprisoned, and both — Strafford very 
soon, Laud after a few years — were beheaded. The men 
on each side of this great conflict doubtless per- Th d f 
suaded themselves that they were right ; that they Strafford 
were fighting for God, religion, and honor ; this is Laud, 
shown by the noble way in which they would go to death. 
Strafford and Laud died, the one like a hero, the other like 
a saint; speaking with their latest bi-eath of their devotion 
to their religion, loyalty to their king, and affection to the 
peace and welfare of the kingdom. 

Things had, however, come to so bad a pass now, that it 
was not the death of those two men which could set them 
right. A rebellion broke out in Ireland. Strafford 1641 
had ruled the people with a rod of iron, but he had Rebellion 
only kept them under for the time, and when he mIreand - 
was gone their smothered rage broke out. The Irish indeed 

459 



460 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

had been oppressed by the English for centuries. They had 
hardly been looked on as fellow creatures, still less as fellow 
Christians. In earlier times it had even been said that it 
Mas no more sin to kill an Irishman than to kill a dog. No 
wonder they hated their oppressors. In punishment for 
some rebellion, a great number of English and Scotch Prot- 
estants bad been settled in Ulster, turning out the old pos- 
sessors of the land and their chiefs. The natives, who were 
devoted Catholics, now rose upon these foreign intruders, 
and a terrible massacre took place. 

It was agreed on all hands that the Irish revolt must be 
put down, but great differences of opinion arose in the Par- 
liament as to how much power ought to be confided to the 
king for the purpose. His whole previous career had given 
rise to the gravest distrust. He had shown himself arbitrary 
and faithless ; he was also believed to be inclined to favor 
the Roman Catholic religion, under the influence of his wife, 
who was still more unpopular than he was. It was even 
rumored, though without the slightest foundation, that he 
had stirred up the Irish Catholics to murder the Protestants. 
After the death of Strafford, Charles had made advances 
towards conciliation, by taking as his chief ministers some 
of the more moderate of the members of Parlia- 
m^nisters men *» Falkland, Hyde, and Colepepper; men who 
were loyal and conservative, but who still loved 
liberty and justice. The king promised he would do nothing 
without their advice, and would tell them all he thought of 
doing. Could he but have kept his word ! but that was the 
one thing he never could do. 

That Charles was a good man, in a sense, no one will deny, 
but he had no principle of truth or honor in him in his deal- 
ings with his subjects. He had probably been bred 

The king's U)) m th e notion, so common anions: royal personages 
conscience. J, . . _. ' «? J ' . ^ 

of that period, that it was no sin to deceive the 

people under him. The Archbishop of York had told him, 
in so many words, that there was a private conscience and a 
public conscience, and that his public conscience as a king 
might not only dispense with, but oblige him to do, that 
which was against his private conscience as a man. 

This doctrine, outrageous and immoral as it sounds, had, 
nevertheless, a certain truth in it. A constitutional sover- 
eign, one who has to govern according to the sense of Par- 
liament and the nation, can not and must not act always 



THE CLV1L WAR. 461 

according to his own judgment. For he sometimes may 
think that to be right which the Parliament and the majority 
of the nation think wrong. Kings and queens may often 
have to consent to tilings which perhaps their private minds 
do not approve, but this does no violence to their conscience, 
because such affairs are settled by the ministers, or, as we 
call them, the Cabinet, and the Cabinet is always appointed 
in agreement with the majority of the House of Commons. 
It was the great misfortune of the Stuarts that no such plan 
had been thought oi in their days, and as they were too 
blind, or too careless, or too obstinate to see and conform to 
the will of the nation, they could not escape the disasters 
which ruined them at last. 

In an evil hour one of Charles's consciences caused him to 
break the promise he had made to his ministers, and without 
their knowledge or consent he took a step which 1642 
was, perhaps, the most important and the most fatal The five 
in his whole life. He determined to charge five of members - 
the principal members of the House of Commons — Hampden, 
Pym, and three others — with high treason, and to arrest 
them within the walls of the Parliament. These five were 
the leaders of the popular party, and it was true that they op- 
posed the tyranny of the king. But whatever they did, they 
did by fair and legal means, and it is evident that if the 
members might not say openly what they thought in Parlia- 
ment, the House of Commons would be of no use, either 
as advising and checking the king, or as representing the 
thoughts and the will of the nation. 

Charles went to the House himself, attended by armed 
soldiers, to seize on the five members by force. But the five 
members, who had had a hint of what was coming, were not 
there. They had taken refuge in the city of London, the 
Londoners being all in favor of liberty, and resolved to de- 
fend it; even "the rude people flocked together, crying out, 
'Privilege of Parliament! privilege of Parliament !' " The 
citizens protected the five members, and appointed a guard 
to watch over them. Everybody was filled with indignation 
at this flagrant act of tyranny ; even the king's friends, and 
especially those three ministers, were, as Hyde (afterwards 
known as Lord Clarendon) tells us, " so much displeased and 
dejected, that they were inclined never more to take upon 
them the care of anything to be transacted in that House, 
for fear of being looked on as the authors of those counsels 
which they perfectly detested." 



462 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

In a few days the five members were taken back in 
triumph. " The Thames was covered witli boats, and its 
shores with the gazing multitude. Armed vessels, deco- 
rated with streamers, were ranged in two lines from London 
Bridge to Westminster Hall. The members returned upon 
the river in a ship manned by sailors Avho had volunteered 
their services. The train-bands of the city, under the com- 
mand of the sheriffs, marched along the Strand, attended by 
a vast crowd of spectators," clamoring for the privilege of 
Parliament. So the five members took their places again, 
the House of Commons having declared that anyone who 
attempted to arrest them was a public enemy to the Com- 
monwealth. 

The king, who was bitterly mortified and ashamed, and 
who was perpetually hooted and shouted at by the rabble, 
The kins could not bear to stay and see the triumph of the 
leaves Parliament, which was his own defeat. He left 
on. Whitehall and London, and, as will be seen, he 
never came back till he came to die. 

This violence of the king we may look on as the begin- 
ning of the great civil war. He and the Parliament had 
negotiations for some few months longer, but they 
Commence- could never be friends again. Both parties began 
ment of the to muster their supporters and to raise armies. In 

CIVll W3X -r s- 

August, King Charles set up his standard at Not- 
tingham, and the war was begun. The Parliament chose 
the Earl of Essex as their general, and the first battle was 
fought in October, at Edgehill. It was a sort of drawn 
battle, in which neither side conquered ; but for some time 
afterwards things went best with the Royalist party. 

The two armies were very unlike, and the king's was by 
far the best, though he had no great general to command it. 
One of his principal officers was his nephew, Prince Rupert, 
who was bold and dashing as a soldier, though he had not 
the qualities of a commander. The greater rart of the 
nobility and gentry were on the side of the king, and has- 
tened to rally around him in his need. Though they were 
not trained soldiers, they were high-spirited and brave, 
accustomed to riding, shooting, and fencing ; whilst the 
Parliament had only been "able to enlist the lower sort of 
hirelings, many of whom were " a mere rabble of tapsters 
and serving-men out of place." Nor did the Earl of Essex 
prove himself an able commander. Very early in the war, 



THE CIVIL WAR. 4tio 

Hampden, who would probably have been as good a general 
as he was a statesman, was killed in a skirmish with Prince 
Rupert. 

But now began to come into note the man who before 
long rose to be the head of affairs, and w T hose name is the 
most famous in this period, — Oliver Cromwell. 
Those who think Charles I. a saint naturally think cJomwell 
Cronrwell a wicked murderer, and his memory is 
still hated and reviled by some. But nobody can deny that 
he was an extraordinary man, — a strong man with an iron 
will, a genius for command, and a sincere feeling of religion. 
It would be vain to attempt to justify all his acts, but that 
he saved England at this time from slavery and ruin can 
hardly be questioned. 

He was a member of the Long Parliament, and was made 
an officer in its army, though he had not been trained to 
war. When he compared the two armies, he soon 
saw what must be done, and set himself to do it. 1S axm ^' 
He woald not be content with a hired rabble such as the 
Parliament had begun with ; he determined to new model 
first his own regiment, and then the whole army. His regi- 
ment soon became famous under the name of " Cromwell's 
Ironsides, 1 ' and the army, when he had organized it, was, 
perhaps, the most wonderful army the world ever saw. 
The soldiers had high pay ; they were no longer the lowest 
of the people, but men of decent station, grave character, 
and some education. They gloried in saying they had not 
been forced into the service, nor had enlisted for the sake 
of lucre, but were freeborn Englishmen, who willingly put 
their lives in jeojjardy for the liberties and religion of Eng- 
land. 

Religion, indeed, was the mainspring of all their lives and 
actions. But it was a strange religion, with as much hatred 
in it as love. They were irreproachable in their moral con- 
duct ; there was no swearing nor drinking, nor other excess 
among them ; but they were most bitter and severe towards 
any who thought differently from themselves on the doc- 
trines of religion. These soldiers and Cromwell also held 
different views from the Presbyterians, who were beginning 
to spread very much in England as well as in Scotland, and 
who had a strict church discipline of their own. They 
called themselves Independents, and thought that every 
Christian congregation had a right to govern itself ; so, in 



4H4 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

addition to Popery and Prelacy, they hated Presbyterian ism 
as well. 

The indignation and contempt they felt against the 
Church of England led them to do many things which seem 
most irreverent and revolting, such as stabling their horses 
in St. Paul's and other cathedrals, and breaking down the 
carved work and beautiful ornaments. A few years after 
the wars were over, an English gentleman gave this ac- 
count of their doings in Lincoln Cathedral : " The soldiers 
had lately knocked off most of the brasses from the grave- 
stones, so as few inscriptions were left ; they told us that 
these men went in with axes and hammers, and shut them- 
selves in till they had rent and torn off some barge-loads of 
metal, not sparing even the monuments of the dead, so 
hellish an avarice possessed them." It was not avarice 
which possessed them, however, but what they believed to 
be zeal for God's glory. 

They had learned to be self-denying and obedient. Crom- 
well maintained a strict discipline; he caused them to be 
rigidly drilled and taught the soldier's art, and they very 
soon surpassed their enemies. They were as brave and 
enthusiastic as the Cavaliers, and they were trained and 
steady and submissive as the Cavaliers never could be. 
"From the time the army was remodelled," says Macaulay, 
" to the time it was disbanded, it never found, either in the 
British Isles or on the Continent, an enemy who could stand 
its onset. In England, Scotland, Ireland, Flanders, the 
Puritan warriors, often surrounded by difficulties, sometimes 
contending against threefold odds, not only never failed to 
conquer, but never failed to destroy and break in pieces 
whatever force was opposed to them. They at length came 
to regard the day of battle as the day of certain triumph, 
and marched against the most renowned battalions of Europe 
with disdainful confidence. . . . Turenne expressed the de- 
light of a true soldier when he learned that it was ever the 
fashion of Cromwell's pikemen to rejoice greatly when they 
beheld the enemy." 

When this army came to be disbanded, after many great 
events had happened, everyone felt alarmed as to what the 
consequences might be. There were fifty thousand of them 
turned loose on the world. But no evil results followed ; they 
quietly took up useful trades, and "the Royalists them- 
selves confessed that none were charged with any theft or 



THE CIVIL WAR. 465 

robbery, and none was heard to ask an alms." Here is the 
testimony of an eye-witness, and a man far more inclined to 
the Royalist than the Roundhead side (writing in 1663) : 
"Generally they are the most substantial sort of people and 
the soberest. ... Of all the old army now, yon cannot see 
a man begging- about the streets. You shall have this cap- 
tain turned a shoemaker, the lieutenant a baker, this a 
brewer, that a haberdasher ; and everyone in his apron and 
frock, as if they had never done anything else ; whereas the 
other go with their belts and swords, swearing and cursing 
and stealing, running into people's houses, by force often- 
times, to carry away something ; and this is the difference 
between the temper of one and the other." 

It was not to be wondered at that this army carried all 
before it. The king's forces were defeated in two great 
battles, Marston Moor and Naseby, and in other smaller 
ones. The power of the Parliament was estab- 
lished over the whole country. Charles fled to the Battle'of 
Scots; and the Scots gave him up, or, as is some- Nasebv - 
times said, sold him to the English, who imprisoned him, 
first in Holmby House, an old manor-house still standing in 
Northamptonshire; afterwards in Carisbrook Castle, in the 
Isle of Wight. 

The principal care of the Parliament after its victory was 

to remodel the religion of the country. Most of the leaders 

were rigorous Puritans and Presbyterians. They 

entered into what they called a "solemn leao-ue and E he . 
,, , •' -i t i Covenant, 

covenant to put down popery and prelacy, heresy 

and schism. They made a strict alliance with the Scotch 

Presbyterians, who subscribed the league and covenant with 

all their hearts. The Scotch " Covenanters " have left an 

undying name behind them, through the heroism with which 

in after years they endured terrible persecutions ; but at the 

time of which we are writing, their party was in 

the ascendant, and the English Covenanters now ticmoft'he 

persecuted other people. They turned a great Q hu r ch . of 

many clergymen out of their parishes, and forbade 

anyone to read the English Prayer-book even in their own 

homes. The churches were used by the Puritan ministers. 

John Evelyn, a churchmai} and a noted man of his time, 

who kept a diary of the events of this and the subsequent 

reign, tells us that he went into a church one Whitsunday, 

" and heard one of their canters, who dismissed the assembly 



466 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

rudely, and without any blessing." He says that during 
this period the Church of England was considered to bo 
" utterly lost," which was a great triumph to the Papists. 
The only argument that could be brought to prove its visi- 
bility and existence was that the English ambassador in 
Paris still had his chapel, where the Anglican Liturgy and 
ceremonies were maintained. 

They rigorously forbade the keeping of festivals, above all 
Christinas Day, which was the most joyous and dearly-prized 
of all. Having made, an ordinance " that none should any 
longer observe the superstitious time of the nativity," they 
would seize upon any worshippers who ventured to meet and 
celebrate the Church service. Evelyn mentions that "these 
miscreants" found out a little band with whom he was wor- 
shipping one Christmas Day, "held their muskets against 
them" as they went up to receive the sacrament, as if they 
would have shot them at the altar, and imprisoned them till 
the next day, when they were allowed to go home. 

In their great zeal, too, the Puritans burned a great many 
beautiful pictures which Charles I. had collected, whether of 
heathen subjects or of Madonnas and saints, as being likely 
to lead to idolatry. Not content with that, as they did not 
care for any pictures at all, they ordered those which could 
not be pronounced to be sinful to be sold. Cromwell, how- 
ever, who was too great a man for this ignorant prejudice, 
would not allow the order to be entirely carried out, and 
though a great many treasures were sent out of the country, 
he saved the cartoons of Raphael, which are now in the 
Kensington Museum. 

It was not very long before Cromwell and the Parliament 
came to other differences, lie and his army being princi- 
Cromwell P : ^'y Independents, while the Parliament was Pres- 
andthe byterian, they could not work together, and the 
Par lament. arm y j which had begun by being the servant, ended 
by being the master and the tyrant. There was a wide dis- 
agreement as to what was to be done with the captive king. 
Finding that some of the members of Parliament were in- 
clined to come to terms with him, one of the colonels of the 
army, a man named Pride, marched with a regi- 
* ment of infantry to the entrance of the House, and 
kept a hundred of those members out. This was called 
"Pride's Purge," and was certainly a more tyrannical act 
than anything Charles had done towards the House of 
Commons. 



THE civil WAR. 467 

After this the remainder of the Parliament agreed that the 
king should be tried for his life. This was a thing which 
had never been heard of before. Englishmen were 
indeed well accustomed to see some of the noblest ^felline- 
of their land, dukes, carls, bishops, ladies, and even 
queens, brought to the block; but not a crowned king. 
Though more than once a worthless or incompetent king 
had been deposed and had perished miserably, yet his death 
had always been in secret and in silence. So much sanctity 
was still believed to attach to an anointed sovereign, that to 
bring him before a tribunal of his subjects, still more to shed 
his sacred blood on the scaffold, appeared like sacrilege. 

But the Puritan leaders were not men to commit murder 
in the dark; what they did they would do in the face of 
day; though by so doing they shocked and appalled not 
only the king's own friends, but nearly all the people in the 
land. Although Charles had been so had a king, and, since 
his troubles, had become more and more deceitful and false, 
so that his dearest friends were ashamed and grieved, yei 
now that his last days drew nigh his spirit rose. At his 
trial, and after the sentence of death had been pronounced, 
he behaved with a firmness and calm dignity worthy of a 
king. 

He took a tender leave of his young children ; the elder 
ones as well as the queen were already out of the country. 
Hume relates that, placing his little son on his knee, he said, 
"Now they will cut off thy father's head." At these words 
the child looked very steadfastly upon him. "Mark, child, 
what 1 say ; they will cut off my head, and perhaps make 
thee a king. Put mark what I say; thou must not be a king 
as long as thy brothers Charles and James are alive. They 
will cut off thy brothers' heads when they can catch them; 
and thy head too the)- will cut off at last. Therefore, I 
charge thee, do not be made a king by them! " The duke, 
sighing, replied, "I will he torn in pieces first." So deter- 
mined an answer from one of such tender years filled the 
king's eyes with tears of joy and admiration. 

On the scaffold he said that he died for the liberty and 
laws of the people. When he was preparing for 1649 
the block, Bishop Juxon, who attended him, said, His exe'eu- 
" There is, sir, but one stage more, which, though tlon- 
turbulent and troublesome, is yet a very short one. Con- 
sider, it will soon carry you a great way, it will carry you 



-168 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

from earth to heaven." . . . The king replied, "I go from a 
corruptible to an incorruptible crown, where no disturbance 
can have place." At one blow his head was severed from 
his body. 

From that moment people were ready to forget all his 
faults, and to consider him, as many do still, a saint and a 
martyr. Nearly every one in England would have echoed 
the words of Lord Clarendon, that "the execution of that 
sentence was the most execrable murder that was ever com- 
mitted since that of our blessed Saviour." And, as in the 
old times if a great saint were put to death it was always 
reported that miracles were wrought at his tomb or by his 
relics, so now it was said that marvellous cures were per- 
formed by the blood of the martyred king. Evelyn tells us 
of one that was blind being restored to sight by it. 

Henceforward, though the nation was held down by Crom- 
well and his army, it began to hate the new order of things, 
and to long for the royal family back again. All the Cava- 
liers, and many Presbyterians, considered Charles's 
andthe eldest son ? a young man of nineteen, as lawfully 
army their king, though he did not begin to reign till 

pr " eleven years afterwards; for all that time the 
country was entirely under the dominion of the army. The 
two great powers which had begun the contest — the king 
and the Parliament — were both put an end to, and the 
army, with Cromwell at its head, was supreme. A sort of 
shadow of Parliament, however, lingered on for a time, 
while Cromwell had other things to attend to. 

Another great rebellion broke out in Ireland. Everything 
that happened in that unfortunate country, every new set of 
Th people that went and settled there, seemed to make 

ditionof things worse. Carlyle says that the history of it, 
Ireland. an j i ts con( ]iti on a { this time, "remains only as a 
huge blot, an indiscriminate blackness. . . . There are par- 
ties on the back of parties, at war with the world and with 
each other. There are Catholics of the Pale (that is, the part 
where the early English settlers had lived, see p. 169) under 
my Lord This and my Lord That ; there are old Irish Cath- 
olics under papal nuncios and native chiefs, who cannot 
agree with the other Catholics. There are Royalists under 
the Duke of Ormond, strong for king without covenant ; 
there are Presbyterians, strong for king with covenant; 
lastly, Michael Jones and the commonwealth of England, 



THE CIVIL WAR. 469 

who want neither king nor covenant. All these, plunging 
and tumbling in huge discord for the last eight years, have 
made of Ireland and its affairs the black, unutterable blot 
we speak of. . . . Numerous large masses of armed men 
have been on foot, full of fiery vehemence and audacity, but 
without worth as armies; savage hordes, rather, full of 
hatred, and mutual hatred, of disobedience, falsity, and noise. 
Undrilled, unpaid, driving herds of plundered cattle before 
them for subsistence ; rushing down from hillsides, from 
ambuscadoes, passes in the mountains ; taking shelter always 
in the bogs, whither the cavalry cannot follow them." 

Cromwell came upon all this, says Carlyle, " like a torrent 
of Heaven's lightning." He conquered the country, and he 
brought it into order and a sort of peace, but he 
was terribly cruel. Immense numbers of soldiers, 
besides priests, friars, and others, were slaughtered, and 
thousands of people were driven from their homes, while 
English Protestants were settled down in their place. 
Cromwell writes about this slaughter as if it were the work 
of the Spirit of God, and wishes "that all honest hearts may 
give the glory to God." 

After nine months of this work, and when Ireland was 
exhausted and trampled into tranquillity, Cromwell returned 
to England, where he was received with great honors, and 
went to live in King Charles's palace at Whitehall. Some 
time afterwards the Parliament gave him Hampden Court 
Palace, where Charles had also passed much of his time. 

Troubles came next in Scotland, which took up the cause 
of the banished Prince Charles, under the brave and loyal 
Montrose, one of the noblest of all the Royalists. p rince 
Though his expedition failed, and he himself was Charles in 
put to death, the prince ventured to come over to Scotland - 
Scotland, and was received by a large part of the nation as 
king. He was a gay and pleasure-loving youth, but he now 
had to promise to be a Presbyterian (a promise which he 
never meant to keep), and to conform himself outwardly to 
their strict and gloomy ways. He was kept in such stern 
order, so preached at, scolded at, and watched, that it seems 
to have been the most wretched part of his life. 

The Puritan clergy, Lord Clarendon says, -'were in such 
continual attendance upon him, that he was never free from 
their importunities, under pretence of instructing him in 
religion: and so they obliged him to their constant hours of 



470 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

their long prayers, and made him observe the Sunday with 
more rigor than the Jews accustomed to do their sabbath ; 
and reprehended him Aery sharply if he smiled on those 
days, and if his looks and gestures did not please them ; 
whilst all their prayers and sermons, at which he was com- 
pelled to be present, were libels and bitter invectives against 
all the actions of his father, the idolatry of his mother, and 
his own malignity." 

Cromwell marched into Scotland at the head of his invin- 
cible army, and beat the Royalists in a great battle at Duri- 

1650 bar. When Charles and his army left Scotland, 
Battle of and marched into England, he followed, and utterly 
Worcester. j e £ eatecl t})em at Worcester. The young king had 

to fly for his life, and met with most wonderful adventures 
and hair-breadth escapes in endeavoring to take refuge in 
France. He seems to have been fond of telling these adven- 
tures afterwards, and they are recorded in Lord Clarendon's 
History. We have them also in a shorter form, as they were 
heard from Charles's own lips, by Samuel Pepys, who kept 
a diary; one of the most odd and entertaining books in the 
world. He tells us that the king "fell into discourse of his 
escape from Worcester, where it made me ready to weep to 
hear the stories that he told of his difficulties that he had 
passed through ; as his travelling four days and three nights 
on foot, every step up to his knees in dirt, with nothing but 
a green coat and a pair of country breeches on, and a pair 
of country shoes that made him so sore all over his feet that 
he could scarce stir. Yet he was forced to run away from 
a miller and other company that took them for rogues. His 
sitting at table at one place, where the master of the house, 
that had not seen him in eight years, did know him but kept 
it private ; when at the same table there was one that had 
been of his own regiment at Worcester could not know him, 
but made him drink the king's health, and said that the 
king was at least four fingers higher than he. . . . In 
another place, at his inn, the master of the house, as the 
king was standing with his hands upon the back of a chair 
by the fireside, kneeled down and kissed his hand privately, 
s lying that he would not ask him who he was, but bid God 

bless him whither he w s going. Then the difficul- 
Escape of t j eg Q f netting a boat to get into France" (he started 

from itright-helmsted, a small fishing town on the 
coast of Sussex, now called Brighton), " where he was fain 



THE CIVIL WAR. 47l 

to plot with the master thereof to keep his design from the 
foreman and a boy (which was all the ship's company ), and 
so get to Fecamp in France. At Rouen he looked so poorly 
that the people went into the rooms before he went away to 
see whether he had not stolen something or other." 

It was just after the battle that the king hid himself in an 
oak tree, where he could sit in security watching those who 
came in search of him, and hearing them say what they 
would do with him when they caught him, which oak tree 
is still commemorated by the wearing of oak apples on the 
'29th of May, the day when he was restored to his kingdom. 

Though in the course of his wanderings Charles was rec- 
ognized by a large number of both men and women, and 
though a proclamation was issued promising a thousand 
pounds to anyone who would deliver him up, and declaring 
the penalty of high treason against any who should harbor 
or conceal him, not one of them had a thought of betray- 
ing him, either through hope of reward or dread of punish- 
ment. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE PROTECTOR AXD THE KING. 

The rule of Oliver Cromwell. The fame of England. Death of Oliver. The 
army supreme. Recall of Charles II. Reaction against the Puritans. The 
plague and the fire. 

Cromwell and his army were now victorious everywhere. 
The poor remains of the Long Parliament, which had begun 
so grandly and had done such brave tilings, were now sunk 
into contempt. They looked on with displeasure at the new 
tyranny which was growing up, but they were quite help- 

1653. l ess - At l ast ' <),ie day Cromwell marched into the 
Cromwell House with a body of soldiers, had the Speaker 
the Par" P pulled out of his chair by force, called his mace a 
liament. bauble, and, after abusing and insulting the mem- 
bers, turned them all out of the House, and locked the door. 
No one dared cry "Privilege of Parliament" this time; 
Cromwell and the Ironsides were too strong for them. 

The government was now supposed to be republican, ami 
England was called a commonwealth; but in fact the whole 
Heismade country lay at the feet of Cromwell. He would 
lord pro- have liked very much to be made king and 
tector. ca H e d so, but the army, though wholly devoted to 
him, hated the title of king, and he was instead called the 
lord protector. He resolved to try and govern in the old 
way, with a House of Lords and a House of Commons ; but 
his plan did not succeed very well. One of the Parliaments 
he summoned was not fairly elected, and was generally 
despised. One of its most active members being the leather- 
seller, Praise-God Barebone, it was derisively called by the 
people "Barebone's Parliament." His other Parliament, 
when it attempted to do its duty and to put some check on 
his despotic will, he dissolved, just as James or Charles 
would have done. His House of Lords was ridiculed by 
everybody. Scarcely any of the real nobility of the old 
families which the people respected would attend ; it was 

472 



THE PROTECTOR AND THE KING. 478 

said that Oliver invited draymen and cobblers to take seats 
in it. It was true that men of all trades had been officers in 
Cromwell's army, had done good work for the country, and 
were worthy of all respect ; but when they attempted to 
appear as lords and nobles they became ridiculous, and even 
the House of Commons would not honor them by calling 
them lords. 

If ever there was an absolute monarch in the world, Oliver 
Cromwell had become one ; but it cannot be denied that as 
long as he reigned, he reigned gloriously. He 
restored justice and order; no judge dared touch a ^jf^" 
bribe ; no one dared stir up strife or tumult. He 
was even reasonably tolerant in religion. The great parties 
had broken up into many different sects by this time, and he 
strove to make them live peaceably together. He even 
allowed the Jews to come back to England, none of whom 
had entered the country since the day when Edward I. had 
banished them. It is curious to consider that when Shake- 
speare drew the character of Shylock, he had probably 
never seen a Jew. Some of them established themselves in 
London, though they were not allowed to build a synagogue 
till 1662. Cromwell, indeed, became so famous that some of 
the Jews in foreign parts began to think he must be their 
expected Messiah, and sent a body of Rabbis to England to 
try and find out whether he had not had some Jewish 
ancestors. He did not seem to have been at all flattered by 
this compliment, and sent the Rabbis off again in great 
indignation. 

It was while Cromwell was lord protector that the first 
missionaries were sent out from England to convert the 
heathen. Very large sums of money are now raised every 
year by the Church of England and other bodies for the 
purpose of spreading Christianity far and wide. Cromwell's 
government caused collections to be made in every parish in 
England for sending missionaries to the American Indians. 
The first of the missionaries was a most devoted and heroic 
man named Eliot, who converted a great many of the sav- 
ages, and translated the Bible into their language. 

England at this time rose to great fame and glory abroad. 

After Elizabeth's death she had sunk down under the Stuart 

kings to be a second-rate power ; but Cromwell's 

wisdom and energy raised her up a^ain, till she England's 

-,i ^J , .,. '.^.'-r, tame, 

seemed the greatest and mightiest nation in Europe. 



474 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTOKV. 

All the other countries tried to win her friendship. Her 
fleet once mure became grand and powerful. She had an 

admiral named Blake, who was as brave and gallant as 
Raleigh or Drake. England went to war with Holland at 
this time, which was also a great naval power. But they 
and all the other enemies of England were conquered. The 
English pride was much gratified during these wars by the 

taking of Dunkirk, a port in Flanders, for it seemed 

to make compensation for the loss of Calais, which, 
though it had happened a hundred years before, they 
never could forget. Evelyn the Royalist notes in his diary": 
"I went to see the great ship newly built by the Usurper 
Oliver, earning ninety-six brass guns, and a thousand tons 
burthen. In the prow was Oliver on horseback, trampling 
six nations under foot, — a Scot, Irishman, Dutchman, French- 
man, Spaniard, and English, as was easily made out by their 
several habits. A Fame held a laurel' over his insulting 
head, the word ' God with «*.' " 

Still more to his lasting glory, Cromwell was the friend 
and protector of persecuted Protestants abroad. Among 

the Alps, nestling among the mountain valleys, 
dois Vau " nv0 ^ a harmless race of humble Protestants, — the 

Vaudois or Waldenses, — who were not strictly 
Protestant, but who, living in those secluded regions, had 
kept fast to primitive Christianity, and had disregarded the 
new things which had been added in the course of ages. 
The Duke of Savoy determined to force these poor people 
to renounce their faith or to leave their homes. Those who 
did not or could not go away, and who would not give up 
their Bibles and their religion, were massacred without mercy. 
Their sufferings were awful. It was related that "a mother 
was hurled down a rock with a little infant in her arms, and 
three days after was found dead, with the little child alive, 
but fast clasped between the arms of the dead mother, which 
were cold and stiff, insomuch that those who found them had 
much ado to get the young child out.'' Those who could 
escape into the mountains sent messengers to England for 
help. Cromwell at once proclaimed a general fast, and a 
national collection for the help of the survivors. Nearly forty 

thousand pounds was contributed. But Cromwell 

' did more. He sent an ambassador to the murdering 

duke, demanding the instant suspension of the persecution. 

Such was the awe inspired by Cromwell's name, that the 



THE PEOTBCTOfi ASi> TIIK K.INCJ. 475 

duke submitted without hesitation; the innocent people 
were allowed to return to their homes and to worship God 
in peace. Cromwell had a nohle helper in this work, — the 
Puritan poet Milton. Many of the letters on this business 
were written by him, and his heart, glowing with pity and 
indignation, poured itself out in a prayer which is almost 
like an inspired psalm: — 

" Avenge, O Lord, Thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 

Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold; 

Even them who kept Thy truth so pure of old, 
When all our fathers worshipped stocks and stones, 
Forget not; in Thy book record their groans, 

Who were Thy sheep, and in their ancient fold 

Slain by the bloody Piedmontese, that, rolled 
Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans 

The vales redoubled to the hills, and they 
To Heaven. Their martyred blood and ashes sow 

O'er all the Italian fields, where still doth sway 
The triple tyrant: that from these may grow 

A hundred fold, who, having learned Thy way, 
Early may fly the Babylonian woe." 

Notwithstanding all his glory, and his many nohle points, 
the people in general did not love Cromwell. If it were 
true, as Evelyn thought, that one of the six nations which 
he was trampling under foot in the prow of his ship was 
England, we can well understand the feeling. Nor was it 
likely that the nation would long submit to be governed by 
a despotism. There were insurrections and plots, and the 
Protector knew that his life was not safe. He wore a steel 
shirt under his clothes ; he never went out unless attended 
by an escort, and seldom came home by the same road on 
which he started. He dared not sleep always in the same 
bedroom, but had several different ones, each of which had 
a secret door. 

At last he died a natural death. It was on the day when 
he had won two of his great victories, and which he used to 
call his " fortunate day." As he looked back on , flRQ 

i • , , • . ... loots. 

nis career he seemed to have some misgivings as to Death of 
parts of his conduct. He did not know if "he had CromwelL 
always acted as befitted a Christian man ; but some of his 
last words were, " Truly God is good. He will not leave 
me; my work is done; Cod will be with His people." 

He was buried in Westminster Abbey with more pomp 
and honor than had been shown to some of the greatest 



47»J &TJEST's ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

kings. His son Richard was declared Protector in his stead. 
He was very unlike his father; be was amiable and harm- 
less, but he was only fitted for the life of a quiet country 
gentleman. The one great power in the country, Cromwell's 
army, despised him. He was very soon turned out, and the 
old Long Parliament, which began to be contemptuously 
called the Pump, was called back once more. Richard never 
made the least effort to keep his high place ; he retired con- 
tentedly into private life, and died at last at a good old age. 

The soldiers soon turned the Parliament out again, and 
made a sort of government of their own. England was still 
The a under the army, and there was no Cromwell at its 
without head. This seemed too dreadful for Englishmen to 
Cromwell. CM1( i m ; ej g^fl nearly everybody began to long for the 
old constitution back again, under which England had been 
free, orderly, and famous; not only the Cavaliers, but the 
Presbyterians too, desired to have their king again. Only 
that terrible army, which had never yet been beaten, was 
determined not to have the king back, but to keep the power 
in its own hands. 

It is difficult to say what could have been done if the army 
had remained united ; but now that Cromwell's firm hand 
was gone, the army began to lose unity, and to quarrel 
within itself. The most powerful general left was named 
Monk, who was at the head of one part of the army, and 
strongly opposed to the other part. He marched down from 
Scotland to London. As he came, the people flocked around 
him, imploring him to restore peace and liberty. The fleet 
sailed up the Thames, and declared against the tyranny of 
the soldiers. The Londoners assembled by thousands, calling 
for liberty and a free Parliament. The people refused to 
pay any more taxes, and Monk, who had kept silence hith- 
erto, at last declared there should be a free Parliament. 

It was known that the first thing a free Parliament would 
do would be to restore the monarchy, and everybody was 
overjoyed. They lighted bonfires in every street, and all 
over the country, as far as fo the Land's End ; they rang the 
church bells; they all hoped freedom and law were to return 
with the young king. The Long Parliament met for the last 
time to issue writs for a new election, and then dissolved 
itself forever. 

Charles II. was at Breda, in Holland. A fleet was sent 
over to bring him back in triumph to the country which he 



THE PKOTECTOR AND THE KING. 477 

had quitted in the little fishing-boat ten years before. One 
of the men in this fleet was Pepys, who was secre- 
tary to the admiralty, and who tells all about it in The king 
his diary. He says he heard that King Charles and is brought 
his attendants were in a very poor way, both for 
clothes and money, " their clothes not being' worth forty 
shillings, the best of them ;" whereas my lords who went to 
fetch him had very tine things indeed, " as rich as silver and 
gold can make them." He tells us, too, how overjoyed the 
king was when Sir J. Grenville brought him some money, 
even calling his brother and sister to look at it before it was 
taken out of the portmanteau. When he was to land at 
Dover, Pepys followed in a boat, with one of the attendants 
and " a dog the king loved." 

The cliffs of Dover were crowded with people ; nobles, 
citizens, men of all ranks, weeping with joy. The mayor 
presented Charles with a very rich Bible, which he accepted, 
saying it was " the thing he loved above all things in the 
world." The London ministers gave him a Bible afterwards, 
and he promised them that it should be the rule of all his 
actions. 

Along the road from Dover to London, it was one contin- 
ual triumph, flags flying, bells ringing, wine and ale flowing 
in rivers, crowds of rejoicing people everywhere. And so 
he arrived in London. " I stood in the Strand and beheld 
it, and blessed God," says the good and pious John Evelyn. 

No one yet knew what the king would be like, or whether 
he Avas worthy of this rapture. It soon began to appear 
that, though he had been trained in the school of ad- 
versity, he had not learned wisdom. He was bright, Charles IL 
witty, and good-natured, but there the enumeration of pleas- 
ant traits must end. Though he had said he loved the Bible 
above everything in the world, he had not religion enough 
to keep him from the most shameful vices. He was more 
frightfully and openly immoral than any in the long list of 
English kings; he was idle and reckless; he was untruthful 
and ungrateful. Pepys writes rather despondjngly after a 
time, " that the king do mind nothing but, pleasures, and hates 
the very sight or thoughts of business. If any of the sober 
counsellors give him good advice, and move him in anything 
that is to his good and honor, the other part, which are his 
counsellors of pleasure, persuade him that he ought not to 
hear nor listen to the advice of those old dotards." He pro- 



478 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. * 

fessed to be a member of the Church of England, as his 
father had been, but in his heart he veered about between 
infidelity and Catholicism. On his death-bed he declared 
himself a Catholic. 

At the beginning, however, all went well ; and, indeed, 
his charming manners, his wit and pleasantness, made him 
popular with most of his subjects to the last, especially as 
his successor, they knew, would be much worse than him- 
self. One of his witty courtiers, pretending to make his 
epitaph, wrote, — 

" Here lies our sovereign lord the king, 
"Whose word no man relies on, 
"Who never said a foolish thing, 
And never did a wise one." 

The people in general were the more rejoiced to have the 
king and the Church of England restored, because the Piiri- 
Eeaction tans ^ad ^ een so intolerably grim and morose, 
against the They had put down all amusements and pleasures, 
Puritans. ^ an( j g0()d -^ content w j t h f orD idding any- 
one to go to church on Christmas Day, and pointing muskets 
at them as they received the sacrament, they had ordered it 
to be observed as a fast day. They had pulled down the 
May-poles, and forbidden all dancing, bell-ringing, puppet- 
shows, and the like. As was natural, there was now a great 
reaction. " May-poles were set up in every cross-way, and 
at the Strand, near Drury Lane, the most prodigious one 
for height that was perhaps ever seen." Had it stopped at 
the May-poles it would have been very well, but a great 
many people, and, above all, the court, went to the other 
extreme in far more important matters, and, instead of being- 
over religious and strict, gloried in being wicked and dissolute. 

It is almost incredible how shameless the king and the 
lords and ladies about him were. Wicked women were 
made duchesses and complimented and honored, while virtu- 
ous ladies, and the poor queen among them, were slighted 
and insulted. 

But we are not to think that the whole nation was sunk 
in vice. Though the follies and exaggerations of the Puri- 
tans were swept away, their good and noble Avork remained 
deep-rooted in the hearts of thousands of Englishmen. In 
reading the various books written in this period, it is star- 
tling to pass from one to another, and to notice the amazing 



THE PROTECTOR AND THE KING. 479 

contrast. One of our books might be the " Beauties of the 
Court of Charles II.," which is full of stories of the king, 
and the courtiers, and the fine ladies, and the lives they led ; 
some of them amusing, but most of them frivolous, disgust- 
ing, and contemptible. Another might be the "Life of Mrs. 
Godolphin," a lady who, in the midst of that profligate 
court, was so pure, pious, and charitable that she seems to 
have really been, as Evelyn thought her, " too blessed a 
creature to converse with mortals, fitted as she was, by a 
most holy life, to be received into the mansions above." Or 
it might be the " Life of Baxter," one of the most famous 
of the Puritan clergy, who wrote "The Saint's Best." His 
life we find filled with grave and holy thoughts, with wisdom, 
and unhappily with sufferings and persecutions. It is so 
wonderful to think of those two modes of life going on in 
one country at one time, the intense discordance between 
every idea, every thought, hope, or belief of the two sets, 
that one feels instinctively it could not last. Happy for 
England that the grave and God-fearing element proved the 
enduring one. 

A great number of the most respectable of the Presby- 
terians and their ministers had helped in restoring the king; 
and he on his part had made them promises of toleration 
and protection. Even if he wished — and it seems in his 
careless way he did rather wish — to keep these promises, 
the Cavaliers and the Church of England would not let him. 
They had been persecuted by the Puritans when their side 
of the wheel was down, and now that it was up they were 
determined to have their revenge. Some attempts were at 
first made to reconcile the moderate Presbyterians, such as 
Baxter, Howe, and others, with the moderate Episcopalians. 
They had conferences and discussions, but nothing came of 
it. Even the more temperate and large-hearted among them 
could not believe exactly alike, and they could not agree to 
differ. 

The Puritans were terribly persecuted. Two thousand of 
their clergy were turned out of their livings and left penni- 
less. They were not allowed to have chapels or p ersecu . 
meeting-houses; anyone who attended a Dissenting tion of the 
meeting, if he were convicted three times, might Puritans - 
be transported for seven years. If they met ever so quietly 
in a private house, even to pray for a dying person, it would 
be called a conventicle, and they would be imprisoned. 



480 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Prisons were not then what they are now, and imprison- 
ment was no light punishment. For no offence but worship- 
ping God according to his conscience, a good, thoughtful, 
and religious man would be thrust into a cell crowded with 
villains and ruffians of the lowest class. There, in the midst 
of oaths and brutality, shocking to hear and see, he would 
be left to cold, hunger, nakedness, and often death. The 
state of the prisons was so horrible that there was a special 
fever, known as jail fever, which even judges and barristers 
often caught from the jjrisoners they were trying, and of 
which many men died. 

"It was impossible," says Macanlay, "for the Dissenters 
to meet together without precautions such as are employed 
by coiners and receivers of stolen goods. The places' of 
meeting were frequently changed. Worship was performed 
sometimes just before break of day ; sometimes at dead of 
night. Round the building where the little flock was gath- 
ered sentinels were posted, to give the alarm if a stranger 
drew near. The minister would have to be disguised as a 
carter or collier, and would come in through the back yard 
in a smock-frock, and with a whip in his hand." With all 
these precautions, they were often caught and carried to 
prison. Pepys writes in his diary: "I saw several poor 
creatures carried by, by constables, for being at a conventicle. 
They go like lambs, without any resistance. I would to 
God they would either conform ... or be more wise and 
not be catched." 

John Bunyan, who lived in this reign, and was a tinker by 
trade, was sent to prison for preaching, and kept there 
twelve years. Everybody has read the immortal 
1660-72. u pilgrim's Progress." It was during those years of 
imprisonment, or having, as he said, " lighted on a certain 
place where was a den" (Bedford Jail), that he laid him 
down and slept, and dreamed that wondrous dream. 

The Dissenters were fettered by many statutes. No one 
Mas allowed to be mayor of a town, or to hold any office in a 
T t d corporation, without taking the sacrament accord- 
Corpora- ing to the forms of the English Church. No one 
tionActs. wag a ]p owe( i t j, i t | auy office in the army or navy, 
or any government employment, without doing the same, 
and declaring that he did not believe in transubstantiation. 
These acts were called the Test and Corporation Acts. 
Many Dissenters did not particularly object to receive the 



THE PROTECTOR AND THE KING. 481 

sacrament in the Church of England now and then ; so that 
to take office, like that of mayor or alderman, for instance, 
they would come to church once, and then during the rest 
of the year keep away ; and in after times, when their meet- 
ings were made legal, they would regularly attend their own 
chapels. But the clergy thought this wrong, and com- 
plained that it was a hardship to force them to administer the 
communion to men whom everybody knew to be Dissenters. 
Some time afterwards a law was passed forbidding a man to 
attend a "conventicle," or Dissenting chapel, during the 
whole time he held his office. This law, however, did not 
last long. 

The Test Act was aimed especially against the Roman 
Catholics, whom the Tories and the Church were quite as 
willing to persecute as they were the Dissenters. But as 
both Charles and his brother James were in favor of Cathol- 
icism, they were rather averse to these acts. In fact, they 
would have liked to fill the army with Catholics, both officers 
and men, and so to have oppressed the Church of England 
in its turn. Charles, however, was more prudent than his 
brother, and it was not till James's reign that this matter 
became really formidable. 

Two dreadful misfortunes befell the city of London during 
the reign of Charles II. The first was the Great 
Plague, which broke out in a more terrible way than T . he 
had been known since the time of the Black Death. P affUe " 
The plague was a more frightful disease than any that come 
upon us now; and physicians did not know how to treat it. 
The misery and terror of that awful time can hardly be im- 
agined without reading the letters or diaries of the people 
who were in the midst of it. Though this was the most 
terrible visitation of all, the plague had often been in the 
country before, and the parish registers give some most 
affecting narratives. 

When the plague came into a house they used to mark a 
red cross on the door, and write, " Lord, have mercy upon 
us." Pepys says the first time he saw this, " much 
against his will," was on a very hot day in June, 1665, 
when he saw it on two or three houses in Drury Lane. 
Soon there were hundreds of houses with that sad mark on 
them. He tells us that the bells were always telling; people 
were afraid to look each other in the face; the discourse in 
the street was of death. Nearly all the rich people fled 



482 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

away, a great many of the clergy among them. The shops 
were shut up, and the whole city desolate. One clergyman 
who staid in the midst of it wrote, " What eye would not 
jveep to see so many habitations uninhabited? the ])oor sick 
not visited, the hungry not fed, the grave not satisfied. 
Death stares us continually in the face; . . . the coffins are 
daily and hourly carried along the streets. The bells never 
cease to put us in mind of our mortality. The custom was 
in the beginning to bury the dead in the night only ; now 
both night and day will hardly be time enough to do it." 
After six months the plague seemed to have spent itself, but 
more than a hundred thousand people had perished in that 
time. 

The next year, long before the citizens had had time to 

recover their courage and spirits, the other awful calamity of 

the Great Fire came upon them. The greater part 

The 6 Fi 6 r'e °^ ^ e nouses m ^' e Cli y were still built of wood, 
and were many of them very old, so that if one 
caught fire it was extremely difficult to put it out. The fire 
broke out accidentally, at the king's baker's, in Pudding- 
Lane, and soon spread all round. Pepys, who is generally 
the most prosaic and matter-of-fact of men, was hurried into 
a sort of delirium by the excitement. "As it grew darker," 
he says, " the fire appeared more and more, and in corners 
and upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far 
as we could see up the hill of the city, in a most horrid, 
malicious, bloody flame, not like the fine flame of an ordinary 
fire. . . . We staid till, it being darkish, we saw the fire as 
only one entire arch of fire . . . an arch of above a mile 
long: it made me weep to see it." Evelyn describes it no 
less vividly. "God grant mine eyes may never behold the 
.like, who now saw above ten thousand houses all in one 
flame ; the noise and cracking and thunder of the impetuous 
flames, the shrieking of women and children, the hurry of 
people, the fall of towers, houses, and churches, was like an 
hideous storm, and the air all about so hot and inflamed that 
at the last one was not able to approach it." 

The streets were full of carts, and the river of barges, in 
which people were trying to save their things. At last it 
was found that the only way to stop the fire, which contin- 
ued burning for three days, was to blow up many houses 
with gunpowder, so as to make gaps, beyond which the 
flames could not spread. The whole city from the Tower to 



THE PROTECTOR, AND THE KING. 483 

the Temple was destroyed. St. Paul's Cathedral and in- 
numerable churches were in ashes ; and this is the reason 
why there are so few really old Gothic churches remaining 
in London. No doubt the old city, with its Gothic cathe- 
dral, and its quaint timbered houses, was more picturesque 
and interesting than the London of to-day. Very few lives 
were lost in this fire, but the property destroyed was enor- 
mous. "The poor inhabitants were dispersed about St. 
George's Fields and Moorfields as far as Highgate. . . . 
Some under tents, some under miserable huts and hovels, 
many without a rag or any necessary utensils, bed or board, 
who from delicateness, riches, and easy accommodations, in 
stately and well-furnished houses, were now reduced to ex- 
treniest misery and poverty." The booksellers, who lived, 
as so many do now, in Paternoster Row, lost a hundred 
and fifty thousand pounds in books. 

But if all this property was burned, it seems that the 
plague was burned out too. The quaint old wooden houses, 
with small windows that would not open, were very dirty; 
the infection would never have been got out of them ; and 
after the Great Fire had destroyed them all, the plague grad- 
ually but entirely disappeared. 



CHAPTER L. 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 



Charles and the king of France. Progress of learning. Death of Charles. 
James II. Rebellion of Monmouth. The " Bloody Assizes." The king favors 
Catholicism, and breaks the laws! The seven bishops. Birth of a prince. 
"William of Orange. The flight of James. 

In their dismay and excitement after the Great Fire, the 
people could not believe that it arose by accident; they soon 
made up their minds that it was the work of the Papists. 
Numbers of innocent Roman Catholics were thrown into 
prison; and, though no proofs could ever be found, and no 
one now imagines that they had anything to do with it, it 
was publicly engraved on the tall monument which was 
built in remembrance of the calamity, that "the dreadful 
burning of this ancient city was begun and carried on by the 
treachery and malice of the Popish faction." This inscrip- 
tion was not erased till a few years ago. 

The intrigues and conspiracies of the Catholics in the days 
of Elizabeth, the still more terrible Gunpowder Treason, 

167g had left a lasting impression on the minds of the 
The Popish people. A few years later, the whole country was 
plot - agitated by the report of a "Popish Plot," the ob- 

ject of which was said to be to assassinate the king and 
massacre all the Protestants. The public was ready to 
believe it ; witnesses came forward to divulge the particu- 
lars, and to declare the names of those concerned. The 
principal witness was one Titus Oates, a man who, besides 
having a most infamous private character, was especially 
noted for his frequent changes of religion. Burnet, a bishop 
who wrote the history of this time, and who saw and con- 
versed with most of the principal people then living, both 
bad and good, says that Oates was the son of an Anabaptist, 
that he conversed much with Socinians, became a clergyman 
of the Church of England, and afterwards attached himself 
to the Jesuits. The bishop asked him " what were the argu- 

184 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 485 

ments that prevailed on him to change his religion, and to go 
over to the Church of Rome. He upon that stood up, and 
laid his hands on his breast, and said, God and His holy 
angels knew that he had never changed, but that he had 
gone among them on purpose to betray them." Burnet 
naturally concluded that he "could have no regard to any- 
thing he either said or swore after that." Another of the 
main witnesses, Bedloe, had led a very vicious life, and "had 
made a shift to live on his wits, or rather by his cheats." 

Nevertheless, so excitable and inflammable were men's 
minds at that time, that nothing these wretches said, how- 
ever improbable, seemed too hard to credit, even without a 
scrap of evidence in corroboration. The whole country, 
high and low, rich and poor, seemed bewitched, and mad 
with terror and rage. Oates and Bedloe swore that two 
Jesuits had undertaken to shoot the king, for which deed 
one of them was to receive fifteen hundred pounds ; the 
other, " being a pious man," was to have thirty thousand 
masses at one shilling a mass. These Jesuits, and many 
others, protesting their innocence with their latest breath, 
were put to death. 

A nobleman, standing in the House of Lords, not only 
expressed his wish that there should not be a Popish man or 
woman left in the country, but said he would not have even 
a Popish dog, "not so much as a Popish cat to purr and 
mew about the king." For this speech he was much ap- 
plauded. When Burnet tried to save the life of an innocent 
Roman Catholic gentleman, whose name had been dragged 
into the supposed plot, he was " railed at with open mouth," 
and told that he " only studied to save him for the liking he 
had to anyone that would murder the king." 

In the midst of this excitement, a Protestant magistrate, 
who had heard some of the so-called evidence, died, or was 
murdered in some mysterious way. His death was instantly 
laid on the Papists, and the occasion of his funeral was used 
to excite the fears and fury of the people still farther. It 
was described by a man who, if he did not see it himself, 
says he was informed of it by those who did. " Everyone 
almost fancied a Popish knife at his throat; and at the ser- 
mon, beside the preacher, two thumping divines stood up- 
right in the pulpit to guard. him from being killed, while he 
Avas preaching, by the Papists. ... A most portentous spec- 
tacle, sure," he remarks, "three parsons in one pulpit! 



486 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Enough of itself, on a like occasion, to excite terror in the 
audience." 

We can hardly believe that a frenzy like this could possess 
the sober English nation ; but, notwithstanding the de- 
graded and infamous character of the witnesses, their testi- 
mony and their false oaths were believed, and many innocent 
Roman Catholics were put to death before the tide turned, 
and the nation became ashamed of its credulity. 

Though this jjlot probably never existed except in the 
imagination of the people and the wicked brains of the false 
witnesses, it was true that the Protestant religion and the 
honor of England were both in great danger in the unworthy 
hands of Charles II. He and his brother James, the Duke 
of York, with numbers of Romish priests and Jesuits, were 
secretly laboring to re-convert the country, and to subdue 
what they called the "pestilent heresy of Protestantism." 
Charles was in secret league with the King of France, who 
was eager to help forward in the design. 

This king, Louis XIV., was in some respects the most re- 
markable man of his age. His reign extended over a period 
during which England was ruled in succession by 

of FrancJ' no ^ ess tnan seven roonarchs, including Oliver Crom- 
' well. During the earlier part of that time he was 
too young to govern ; but he began to do so in earnest 
about the same time that Charles II. was recalled. Louis 
spent his life in endeavoring to exalt and enlarge the king- 
dom of France at the expense of any other country. An- 
other of his aims, though he did not pursue it so steadily as 
the first, Avas to further the Catholic religion and subdue the 
Protestants. A great part of the history of England during 
his life depended on the feeling with which her rulers re- 
garded Louis, — whether they were his friends or his ene- 
mies. 

The national spirit of England would have led her to 
oppose Louis and his objects. She would neither allow 
France to become overwhelmingly powerful by swallowing 
up her neighbors, nor suffer the Protestant religion to be 
crushed. Charles, who had hardly the heart of an English- 
man, did not care for either. He made secret treaties with 
Louis, received bribes and pensions from him, and sold Dun- 
kirk, of which the English were so proud, to the French. 
The people, who knew something of all this, and guessed 
more, writhed with shame and displeasure. 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 487 

A war broke out with Holland, "caased," as Evelyn says, 
"by no provocation, but that the Hollanders exceeded us in 
commerce and industry, and in everything but envy." The 
Avar was an unfortunate one, and the Dutch ships sailed up 
the Med way, burned the English vessels, and blockaded the 
Thames ; " a dreadful spectacle as ever England saw, and a 
dishonor never to be wiped off." After this disgrace, for a 
short time England allied herself, as was her evident duty 
and interest, with the Protestant powers, Holland and Swe- 
den, and they all bound themselves together to resist the 
encroachments of France. This was called the Triple Alli- 
ance, but it did not last long. Charles soon fell back under 
the influence of Louis and his bribes, and at last might really 
almost be called a paid pensioner of France. It was no won- 
der that, as Pepys tells us, the people began to wish for Oliver 
back again. 

It was, moreover, feared that things would be worse still 
when the king died, and his brother James, who was an 
avowed Catholic, inherited the throne. Some attempts 
were made in Parliament to exclude him from the succes- 
sion ; but they were unsuccessful, and the king, being angry 
at the idea, would not permit Parliament to meet for four 
years. 

The Whigs, in their turn, began to devise insurrections 
and plots, one of which was called the Rye-House Plot, for 
assassinating the king and the Duke of York. In 16g2 
the puni: hments which followed the^discovery of The Rye- 
this plot, as was so often the case, the innocent us 
suffered with the guilty ; two very noble-minded men in 
particular, Lord William Russell and Algernon Sidney, are 
believed to have been convicted on false evidence. 

In this dishonorable reign an event took place very quietly 
which, it has been said, "might have loomed larger than the 
plague, and have outshone the glare of the fire ; a lfiS2 
something fraught with a wealth of beneficence to The Royal 
mankind, in comparison with which the damage Societ y- 
done by those ghastly evils would shrink into insignificance." 
This was the gathering together of a little band of students 
for the purpose of "improving natural knowledge." The 
work which Roger Bacon had begun, which Francis Bacon 
had carried on, was beginning to spread. They intended to 
study the works and ways of nature: astronomy, chemistry, 
anatomy, magnetism, the spots on the sun, and "divers other 



488 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

things of like nature." Two instruments had lately come 
into use for helping them in their work, the telescope and 
the microscope. Though telescopes had been, perhaps, 
invented so long ago by Roger Bacon, they were not under- 
stood or made any use of till the sixteenth or seventeenth 
century, and one of the first things these students set them- 
selves to do was to improve them. Microscopes were first 
invented about 1590, and exhibited in London 1620. 

These students formed themselves into a society which is 
still the most learned and important philosophical society 
in England, the Royal Society. When Charles had nothing- 
better or worse to do, he was fond of seeing the experiments 
of the philosophers, if they were not too difficult, and 
patronized them as far as he could. The Royal Observa- 
tory in Greenwich Park was also founded in this reign. 

Evelyn, who was one of the first members of the Royal 
Society, occasionally mentions something in his diary which 
shows what great changes were passing over men's minds. 
"April 21) was that celebrated eclipse of the sun, so much 
threatened by the astrologers, and which had so exceed- 
ingly alarmed the whole nation that hardly anyone would 
work or stir out of their houses. So ridiculously were they 
abused by knavish and ignorant star-gazers." But though 
Evelyn adopts so bold and enlightened a tone about eclipses, 
he becomes dubious and cautious when it comes to meteors 
and comets. He saw a meteor one night "of an obscure, 
bright color, very much in shape like the blade of a sword. 
. . . What this may portend God only knows. ... I pray 
God avert His judgments. We have had of late several 
comets, which though, I believe, appear from natural causes, 
and of themselves operate not, yet 1 cannot despise them ; 
they may be warnings from God." He is not sure what to 
think of alchemy either. He tells a story of a certain per- 
son " of very low stature," who, by casting some grains of 
powder into a crucible, converted a lump of lead into four 
ounces of good gold. " This Antonio asserted," says he, 
"with great obtestation; nor know I what to think of it; 
there are are so many impostors and people who love to tell 
strange stories." 

The belief in witches had also begun to die out among the 
educated classes, though most of the people believed in them 
as firmly as ever their forefathers had done. Any poor old 
woman who was ugly and cross and wretched had a good 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 489 

chance of being reckoned a witch ; and, if she once got that 
reputation, every misfortune in the parish was laid on her 
shoulders. If the dairy-maid could not make the butter 
come, the witch was at the bottom of the churn ; if a horse 
was tired or ill, the witch had been on his back ; if a hunted 
hare escaped from the hounds, the huntsman swore at the 
witch ; if the poor old creature made a mistake at church, or 
said amen in the WTong place, that was a sign that she was 
saying her prayers backwards, and was in league with the 
devil. It was well for her if she escaped being ducked in a 
pond, or otherwise tormented by the frightened and angry 
country people. There was still a law which condemned 
witches to death, and three miserable creatures were actually 
hung not long after this. 

At last the king, who had been welcomed to England with 
such tears of joy and rapture, but who had done so little 
worthy of the nation's love, ended his inglorious 16g5 
reign. Evelyn, who had blessed God at sight of Death of 
his coming, tells us in a few solemn lines of his end. Charles IL 
" I can never forget the inexpressible luxury and profane- 
ness, gaming and all dissoluteness, and, as it were, total for- 
getfulness of God (it being Sunday evening) which this day 
se'nnight I was witness of : the king sitting toying with his 
concubines, — Portsmouth, Cleaveland, etc.; a French boy 
singing love-songs in that glorious gallery, while about 
twenty of the great courtiers rnd other dissolute persons 
were at basset round a large table, a bank of at least two 
thousand pounds in gold before them. . . . Six days after, 
all was in the dust ! " 

Notwithstanding all his vices and his meanness, it was 
looked on as a great misfortune when Charles died. His 
brother, who was the next heir, was very unpopu- 
lar, dreaded and disliked by nearly all the country. JamesIL 
He was avowedly a Roman Catholic (which was better than 
being one secretly as Charles II. was) ; he was also cruel, 
revengeful, and obstinate. Nor w r as he animated like Charles, 
nor in any way pleasant or good-natured. So much was his 
religion dreaded, that there had been an idea, as was stated, 
of excluding him from the throne. He was, however, made 
king without any opposition, promising to defend the Church 
of England and the laws of the land. A letter written at 
the time of his accession says that it was "his constant dis- 
course that he would not in the least disturb the established 



490 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

government of the Church." These promises he spent the 
greater part of his short reign in breaking. 

Charles II., though he had left no lawful child, had left 
several illegitimate ones, one of whom, the Duke of Mon- 
The Duke moutn 5 was handsome, gay, and attractive, and a 
of Mon- great favorite with the people. He was generally, 
mouth. though not correctly, believed to be a legitimate 
prince, as it was thought that the king had been secretly 
married to his mother abroad. He was living on the Conti- 
nent, and numbers of discontented Whigs, who had been 
banished for plotting in Charles's reign, and who longed to 
return, persuaded him to invade the west of England, and 
proclaim himself king instead of James. They hoped that 
many of the nobility and gentry would join him at once, 
since they were greatly averse to a Roman Catholic king: 
But while many poor men and tradespeople joined him, call- 
ing him "King Monmouth," the old-fashioned Cavaliers, or 
Tories, though sound and zealous Protestants, were loyal to 
the royal family, and thought it a sin to resist the king. 
Amongst those who took Monmouth's part and fought in his 
army was Daniel Defoe, the author of " Robinson Crusoe," 
and the " History of the Great Plague." After a few weeks 
a battle was fought and Monmouth defeated at a 
' place called Sedgemoor, near Bridgewater. This 
battle is well worth remembering, as it was the last one of 
any importance fought in England. Perhaps no other of the 
countries of Europe has passed two hundred years without 
seeing many and terrible battles. 

After this rebellion James II. had the opportunity of 
showing his character by the way he treated his conquered 
subjects. It was not surprising that Monmouth (though his 
own nephew) and the other leaders of the rebellion were 
beheaded; but everyone shuddered at the horrible cruelty 
with which the poor misguided peasants were punished. 
The soldiers who had won the battle were left to do as they 
liked for a time, and treated their prisoners with shocking 
brutality, hanging and quartering, and boiling the bodies in 
pitch. These soldiers were under a savage colonel named 
Kirke, and had a banner with the sacred Lamb upon it, in 
token of their special Christianity. They were afterwards 
bitterly known as Kirke's Lambs. 

After the soldiers went away, the poor people of those 
parts were given over to still more cruel punishment. A 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 491 

judge even more brutal than the colonel was sent down to 
hold the assizes. His name, the name of Judge 
Jeffreys, and the Bloody Assizes, are remembered jegf e e ys 
with horror to this very day. Jeffreys boasted that 
he hanged more traitors than any judge had ever hanged 
before. It is to be hoped his boast Avas true, for in one 
month he hanged three hundred and twenty persons (some 
say many more), and transported into slavery more than 
eight hundred. 

The first person whom he sentenced to death was a lady, 
who had done no worse than help two poor hunted men to 
escape, just as other women had done to King Charles, when 
he too was trying to escape for his life. One of the last to 
be sentenced was a woman also, who had committed the 
same crime. With her last breath " she thanked God that 
He had enabled her to succor the desolate, and that the 
blessing of those who were ready to perish came upon her." 

There was one good man who tried to stand between the 
victims and their murdering judge; it was Bishop Ken, 
whose name is still known as the author of those dear and 
familiar morning and evening hymns, " Awake, my Soul," 
and " Glory to Thee, my God, this Night." Being grieved 
to the soul at the slaughter among his hapless flock, the 
bishop did all he could to move the king to pity, but in vain. 
Judge Jeffreys was left unchecked to carry on his work. 

Upon holding a session, after terrifying and browbeating 
the captured rebels and their witnesses, and pronouncing his 
barbarous sentences, he would issue an order to the mayor 
requiring him forthwith to erect a gallows; it might be ten 
or twelve persons, or it might be fifty or sixty. Nor were 
those who were put to death even decently buried. It was 
the horrible custom in those days to expose the heads and 
bodies of culprits in public places, so as to strike terror into 
the hearts of the beholders. The order for erecting the 
gallows would be followed by the most cold-blooded direc- 
tions how to dispose of the bodies among the villages round 
about ; two quarters and one head here, four quarters and 
one head there ; some near the windmill, some on the bridge. 
" In many parishes the peasantry could not assemble in the 
house of God without seeing the ghastly face of a neighbor 
(perhaps of a husband, brother, or father) over the porch." 
In the midst of sights like this grew up the innocent chil- 
dren of those western counties. It is no wonder that the 



492 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

hatred with which Judge Jeffreys was regarded endured 
from generation to generation. The king whom Bishop Ken 
had tried to move to compassion was delighted with all this. 
Jeffreys said afterwards that if James were inclined to blame 
anything, it was that the punishments were not severe 
enough. When Jeffreys returned to London, he was re- 
ceived with a hearty welcome, and appointed Lord Chan- 
cellor in reward for his services. 

Having thus put down and abolished both the rebellion 
and the rebels, the king thought to have all his own way. 

To mQt .v 1 JLJ determined to be an absolute king, to make and 
James s . . » ' 

govern- unmake laws at his pleasure; above all, to crush 
ment. t ] )e Q lurc h f England, and once more make 
Catholicism supreme. The one thing which the nation 
disliked most was the idea of a standing army. PeojJe had 
by no means forgotten the despotism of Cromwell and his 
soldiers, and they dreaded and detested the notion of having 
a separate soldier-class. It had been found that, considering 
the immense armies kept up in foreign lands, England could 
not maintain her position without her army always ready, 
regularly trained and disciplined, although her insular situa- 
tion and her fleet was a protection to some extent. 

In defiance of the feeling of the nation, — which was per- 
haps strongest among the Tories, the old friends and sup- 
porters of the royal house, — and without the 
is army. n)llsent f Parliament, James set up a large army, 
which soon numbered thirty thousand men. It was set up 
to overawe his own people rather than to defend them from 
any foreign foe. Not content with this, in defiance of the 
laws he had promised to obey, he filled this army with 
Roman Catholic officers. The Pope himself, who was a 
good and reasonable man, tried to persuade James to be less 
violent and arbitrary, but all in vain. 

The Tories and the Church felt obliged to submit. The 
Church had been teaching for a long time that doctrine of 
James I. al>out the sinfulness of resisting any king, however 
bad he might be ; and they could not find a pretext for op- 
posing him. There was, however, one great hope. The 
king had two daughters, Avho, by the orders of their uncle, 
Charles II., had been brought up as Protestants, and who 
were both very sincerely attached to the Church of England. 
One of them was married to her first-cousin, William, Prince 
of Oransre, who was at the head of all the Protestants on 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 403 

the continent. As the king was now growing elderly, and 
had no son, it seemed in the course of nature that he would 
soon die, and his daughter Mary he queen. 

The bishops and clergy, and Tory gentry, therefore, were 
patient and waiting for the end, which would soon 
come peaceably they hoped. The next aggression y^uni-^ 
of James was against the rights of the universities, 
which were the special glory of the Church. According to 
the laws, no Roman Catholic could hold any office in either 
of them. The king, however, began to force members of his 
own Church upon them. A Roman Catholic was made 
dean of Christ Church, one of the wealthiest and most hon- 
orable posts at Oxford. A Benedictine monk was sent 
down to Cambridge to be made master of arts. 
The vice-chancellor and other authorities said it 
was against the law to admit anyone to a degree who would 
not take the oaths. They were summoned to appear before 
the tribunal of the lord chancellor, Jeffreys. Among those 
who stood before the bar was one whose noble, grave, and 
beautiful face was the true symbol of his life and 
character — the professor of mathematics in the l^^f 
university, Sir Isaac Newton. His great work, 
which will last as long as the world lasts, was just about 
being published, with the sanction and encouragement of 
the Royal Society. He was on the side of liberty and the 
Protestant religion. The vice-chancellor was deprived of 
all his offices and income ; and the other delegates, Newton 
among them, were dismissed, the brutal chancellor saying, 
in his insolent way, that he would send them away with a 
text of Scripture, " Sin no more, lest a worse thing happen 
unto you." Sir Isaac Newton, arraigned before the bar of 
the bloody Jeffreys, was a spectacle for the British nation. 

After this the king interfered in the election of the presi- 
dent of Magdalen College at Oxford, sending down in suc- 
cession and commanding the Fellows to elect two of the 
most unfit men he could find in the whole kingdom ; the 
one secretly, the other openly, a Roman Catholic. When 
the Fellows had the conrage and firmness to resist, " many 
horrible rude reflections" being made upon the king's au- 
thority, said one who heard their debates, they were turned 
out of their fellowships, and many of them reduced to the 
utmost poverty. 

This tyranny roused the indignation of the Tories and the 



■494 GUEST'S ENGLISH H1ST0EY. 

Church to such a point that their favorite doctrine of pas- 
sive obedience was strained almost to breaking. As the 
The Church ^ m o was determined to persevere in his course, and 
and the to put Catholics into the most important posts in 
dissenters. ^ ne ki n g C ] om? an( | as he could get no support 

(though as yet there was no open resistance) from the 
Church or the Tories, he was obliged to try and make 
friends with the Dissenters, pretending that he wished for 
liberty of conscience to all. But the Dissenters well knew 
what he really wished, and when he talked of indulgence 
they knew what, his indulgence meant. He had given a 
specimen of that in the way he and his agent, Claverhouse, 
had treated their brethren, the Covenanters, in Scotland. 
As soon as he began to reign he had a law passed enacting 
that anyone in that country who preached in a "conven- 
ticle" under a roof, anyone who attended a preaching or 
prayer-meeting in the open air, should be put to death. 
The horrible brutality with which these poor innocent peo- 
ple were pursued, tortured, hanged, and drowned, all in the 
name of religion, might have made Cromwell turn in his 
grave. Though there was no Milton now to write or pray 
in their behalf, it was long remembered how those martyrs 
went to death with words of trust and praise on their lips. 

James declared that all the laws against liberty of con- 
science should be repealed, and commanded the bishops and 
clergy to read the declaration in all the churches in the 
kingdom. The bishops, whether they approved of these 
liberal sentiments or not, knew very well that no king of 
England had a right to make or unmake laws at his pleas- 
ure ; they knew, too, that, though he pretended to wish 
everyone's conscience to be free, he only meant in his heart 
that the Roman Catholics shoxdd be free, as his remorseless 
persecutions had shown. 

The Dissenters knew this too, and for once they and the 

Church of England joined heartily together in defence of 

the Protestant religion and the liberty of Englishmen. 

Seven bishops Avho were on the spot refused to read the 

Declaration of Indulgence, or to instruct their clergy to do 

so. One of the seven was the Archbishop of Can- 

The seven terbury : another was the good Bishop Ken. It 
bishops. • ' , . . & . r , . 

was no doubt a bitter moment to them when they 

found they must either oppose the king or consent to his 

overthrowing the Church and the liberties of England. 



THE LAST STUAET KINGS. 405 

They laid a petition before James, in which they assured 
him that their hesitation did not proceed from any want of 
duty or obedience to his Majesty, "our Holy Mother the 
Church of England," they said, "being both in her princi- 
ples and her constant practice unquestionably loyal ; " but 
yet they declared that they could not in honor or conscience 
publish his Declaration of Indulgence. The king was very 
angry ; he called the petition a libel, and said he was the 
king and would be obeyed. His Jesuit confessor, Father 
Petre, "seemed now as one transported with joy;" he 
thought the time was come (as indeed it was) when the king 
would break with the Church of England. 

Nearly all the clergy followed the bishops' lead. Not 
above two hundred in the whole country could be found to 
read the Declaration ; and of these many did it in a way 
which would not have pleased the king. Some "declared 
in their sermons that though they obeyed the order, they 
did not approve of the Declaration ; and one, more pleas- 
antly than gravely, told his people that though he was 
obliged to read it, they were not obliged to hear it; and he 
stopped till they all went out, and then he read it to the 
walls." The Dean of Westminster could hardly hold the 
proclamation in his hand for trembling, and "everybody 
looked under a strange consternation." The king, in the 
greatest indignation at being thwarted in his purpose, sent 
the seven bishops to the Tower. The Londoners were in 
wild excitement at seeing the king and the Church in oppo- 
sition. Rich and poor crowded around the bishops to cheer 
and honor them, and to ask their blessing. 

The king, nevertheless, was as blind and dogged as ever. 
He caused the bishops to be brought up to trial. The agi- 
tation of the people became intense. When it was known 
that after a long trial the bishops were acquitted, the whole 
air was filled with shouts of joy and triumph. The king 
heard his own soldiers shouting too. " So much the worse 
for them," he said. 

In the midst of all this excitement, the queen gave birth 
to a son. A son would, of course, succeed his father 
in preference to a daughter; and the birth of this T l ie birth 
child put an end to the hopes which had been so 
long cherished, that the Princess Mary of Orange would 
quietly take her father's place. The new-born prince would 
be brought up a Roman Catholic, and the tyranny of his. 



496 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTOBT. 

father would be perpetuated. It was believed by great num- 
bers of jjeople that he was not really the son of the king 
and queen, but was brought into the palace in a warming- 
pan, and imposed upon the country as a prince, though no 
one believes that story now. 

In despair, a message was secretly sent over the sea to 
William, Prince of Orange, inviting him to come to the 
rescue, and promising that if he would show himself, the 
people would rise in his support. 

William accepted the call, and with an army of fifteen 
thousand men landed on the 5th of November at Torbay, in 
William Devonshire. It was some time before any nobles 
Prince of or men of importance joined his standard; and, 
Orange, indeed, at one moment William seemed even to 
have thought of returning. By degrees, however, his ad- 
herents increased. The northern counties also arose in his 
favor, and he advanced from Exeter with a large force. 
James went as far as Salisbury to meet him, in a pitiable 
state of fear and uncertainty. One after another of his 
friends — or those whom he thought his friends — dropped 
off from him. His second daughter, Anne, who had always 
lived at court with her husband, the Prince of Denmark, fled 
from the palace at Whitehall. Many even of the officers 
of his army joined the Prince of Orange. One of these, 
and the most important of all, was the general who had 
won the victory of Sedgemoor, and who was afterwards 
known as the greatest commander of his age, John Churchill, 
Duke of Marlborough. James had always treated him with 
the utmost confidence and kindness, and had raised him up 
from being a mere page to high honors and dignities; yet 
he now betrayed and deserted him in his utmost need. 
Churchill and his wife were the dearest friends of the Prin- 
cess Anne ; and it was through their influence that she had 
abandoned her father. 

James was so utterly disheartened by these desertions that 
he returned to London without striking a blow. He sent off 

16g8 his wife and young child secretly to France, and in 
He enters a few days escaped thither himself. This was the 
London. na ppi e gt thing possible for William, who entered 
London, having fought no battle, and shed no blood, not as 
a conqueror, but as a friend and deliverer. 

Literature did not appear to make much progress during 
the reigns of the Stuarts, although the age was distinguished 



THE LAST STUART KINGS. 497 

by a few great names. In the times of Charles I. and of the 
Commonwealth, the minds of men were largely occupied by 
acrid discussions of religious and political topics; and even 
the best prose of the period, like that of Milton, is mostly 
polemic. Of the sublime and beautiful poems of Milton 
some mention has been made. They retain their,. ^ 
hold upon all cultivated readers, and cannot be 
passed over by any who would have even a tolerable know- 
ledge of literature. This is especially true of "Comus," 
"Lycidas," "L' Allegro," and "II Penseroso," and of the 
sonnets. The minor poets of the seventeenth century (and 
a little later) are remarkable for the grace and fluency of 
their songs. Lyrical poetry was then at its height. Henry 
Morley's little collection, " The King and the Commons," 
gives delightful specimens of English songs, fairly dividing 
the honors between the Cavaliers and the Puritans. The 
reader will see therein a great many established favorites, as 
well as many that should be better known. The names of 
Herrick, Waller, Wither, Marvell, Montrose, Lovelace, Suck- 
ling, Jonson, and Carew recall the impressions of some of 
the sweetest verses in the language. 

The great prose epic of the century was Bunyan's " Pil- 
grim's Progress," a wonderful piece of imagination, done in 
pure idiomatic English. 

In the times of Charles II. and James I., the general cor- 
ruption of society, caused by the shameless profligacy of the 
court, was unfavorable to any pure literary work. The great 
poet of the century, after Milton, was John Dry den, the 
author of the most famous satires in the language, and the 
maker of strong and sonorous verse. Butler's "Hudibras," 
a well sustained burlesque of a Cromwellian soldier, was ex- 
ceedingly popular, and still holds its place. 

But the total number of publications was very small ; and 
authors were dependent on the patronage of the great, as 
there was as yet no great reading public. 



CHAPTER LI. 

THE REVOLUTION AND KING WILLIAM. 

Effects of the Revolution. William ami Mary. Religious toleration. The war 
in Ireland. The French fleet invades England. Liberty of the press. Death 
of James II. The French king proclaims Prince James king of England. 
Death of William. 

This Revolution, the Glorious Revolution, as it was 
proudly called, was the final victory of liberty in England. 
All through its history there had been conflicts as 
The Revo- t_ tj ie reciprocal powers and rights of the king and 
people. Now it was made clear, once and forever, 
that a sovereign could not reign in England unless he 
reigned for the good of the people ; and that he, as much as 
the poorest of his subjects, was bound by the laws of the 
land. 

All the pretensions for which the Stuarts had been strug- 
gling so obstinately had to be resigned forever. It was 
once more laid down clearly by Act of Parliament that the 
king could raise no money except by consent of the repre- 
sentatives of the people ; that he might keep no standing 
army without the consent of Parliament; that Parliament 
was to be elected freely without the king's interference ; 
that Parliament was to be allowed to discuss matters freely 
without interference ; that the people might offer petitions, 
without fear of being punished; that the judges were not to 
be set up and put down according to the king's pleasure, 
but to continue in their offices as long as they judged wisely, 
justly, and mercifully; that no man, rich or poor, should be 
put in prison by the arbitrary command of the king; that 
the king had no power to make or unmake laws without the 
agreement of the Parliament. Lastly, it was settled that no 
one but a Protestant should be king or queen of England. 

If William and Mary had been tyrants, they might have 
thought a crown and an authority limited like this were 
hardly worth accepting; but they were wise enough to 

498 



THE REVOLUTION AM) KING WILLIAM. 490 

know how much greater, happier, and safer it is to be the 
honored guardians of a free and' united people than to be 
despotic rulers, feared and hated by slaves and rebels. 

This was the last great struggle in English history ; there 
have been changes since then, sometimes discontent, some- 
times here and there a riot ; but the liberty and harmony of 
the nation have gone on gradually increasing. The rulers 
have cared more and more for the welfare of the people; 
they have seen ever more and more plainly the wisdom of 
being at one with them, and bringing their own will into 
harmony with the will of the nation. Perhaps the sovereign 
who has been the wisest of all in this respect, who has seen 
most clearly the position of a constitutional sovereign, has 
been Queen Victoria, who has been rewarded by a constant 
love and loyalty. 

This great Revolution was brought about without vio- 
lence. The people, even when most excited and enraged, 
wei - e content with pulling down Roman Catholic chapels, 
burning crucifixes, vestments, and images of the Pope, and did 
no harm to a single person. The only one they even wished 
to take vengeance on (and they may surely be forgiven for 
that) was Judge Jeffreys. He was caught in the disguise 
of a collier, trying to escape from the country, dragged 
before the Lord Mayor, and finally carried to the Tower. 
It was hard work to get him there ; the crowds on all sides 
pursued his coach, howling with rage, brandishing cudgels, 
and holding up halters in his sight. What a contrast to the 
day when the seven bishops had been taken to the Tower, in 
the midst of thousands of weeping people, asking their bless- 
ing and praying for them ! Jeffreys was not, however, put 
to death ; he was kept in the Tower till he died there very 
miserably. 

William, who had a wonderful intellect, steadiness, and 
devotion, with many other of the noblest qualities of a ruler, 
was not personally much liked in England. The 
former kings, even James II., had lived in a kind William 
of intimacy and familiarity with the people which 
William never attempted. He had cold and distant man- 
ners, which were a wonderful contrast to those of the gay 
and good-humored Charles. Evelyn says he had a mauly, 
courageous, and wise countenance, but was stately, serious, 
and reserved. He was no fonder of England than England 
was of him ; indeed, he called it a villaneous country, and to 



500 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the end of his days he greatly preferred Holland. But the 
flatter a land was, the better it was thought in those days. 
The Alps were looked upon as the place where nature had 
heaped up the rubbish of the world to form and clear the 
plains of Lombardy. 

William also naturally liked his old Dutch friends better 
than his new English ones, and affronted the people, as 
many kings had done before, by giving rewards and honors 
to these foreigners. Only he was unlike the other kings who 
had done that, by not having Avorthless favorites. His 
friends were all wise, faithful, and good men, wliose only 
fault was that they were not Englishmen. Nevertheless, 
though the English grumbled a great deal, as Englishmen 
still do, and gave William a very troublesome reign, they 
were wise enough to know his value, and when there was 
any real danger of losing him, and getting James back, they 
always forgot their discontents and rallied around him. 

Mary was a most devoted wife. She was good and pious, 
and winning in her manners; but it shocked the feelings of 
the people to see her supplant, and aid her husband 
Mary. m supplanting, her own father. There was some- 
thing painful and heartless in the pleasure she exhibited in 
taking possession of the palace of her father, and sitting in 
the seat of her step-mother. It was explained that she did 
this in order to show that she thoroughly sympathized with 
her husband, and that she was only acting a part ; but her 
behavior, says a looker-on, " was censured by many." She 
gradually, however, .won much love and affection in the 
country, and was a, wise and gentle queen. Her court was a 
great contrast to that of Charles II. One of her greatest 
friends, Bishop Burnet, wrote of her that "she set a great 
example to the whole nation, which shines in every part of 
it." One of her principal marks of wisdom, he considers, 
was that " she took ladies off from that idleness which not 
only wasted their time, but exposed tliem to many tempta- 
tions. . . . She engaged many both to read and work." 

Something like charity appeared in the laws respecting 
religion. The persecution of the Dissenters came 

Religious ^ an end. William hated religious tyranny, and 

toleration. n - . o j ./.' . 

wished all peaceable and innocent people in his 

kingdom to feel safe and free. He would have been glad to 
repea\the Test and Corporation Acts, which had so ham- 
pered and galled both Dissenters and Roman Catholics, — 



THE REVOLUTION AND KING WILLIAM. 501 

being in these matters wiser than the country at large, — but 
he could not succeed in doing so. Parliament would not 
consent to repeal those acts, and when William wished to 
extend some toleration to the Roman Catholics, it would not 
consent to that either ; indeed, more grievances were added 
to those they had already, and very harsh laws were enacted 
against them. These laws do not seem, however, to have 
been very rigorously executed. 

The Dissenters were permitted, under certain restrictions, 
to have chapels and services according to their consciences, 
without fear of being molested. All their ministers, as well 
as the clergy of the Church of England, were ordered to 
take the oath of allegiance to the king, and nearly all of 
them thankfully accepted the peace and protection he offered 
them, and were quite willing to do so. One part of this oath 
used to be, "I, A. B., do declare and believe that it is not 
lawful, upon any pretence whatever, to take up arms against 
the king;" this clause was now omitted. The doctrine of 
passive obedience and non-resistance had not been found to 
work well, and even the Tories were beginning to reconsider 
the matter. 

But the Anglican clergy had been so long preaching the 
divine right of kings, that it was hard to turn round now and 
admit their preaching had been all wrong, and that the 
nation and the Church were justified in banishing the king 
who had ruled so ill, and in choosing another. Neverthe- 
less, most of the clergy had either been convinced of the 
absurdity of their doctrine by James's persecution of the 
Church, and by his injustice and tyranny, or they persuaded 
themselves that they might lawfully obey William and Mary, 
who were in possession of the throne, so they took the oaths 
and kept their churches. 

A few refused, among whom were the Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, Bishop Ken, and some other of the bishops whom 
James had sent to the Tower. They were treated 
very gently and patiently; but at last a new arch- ^.!,^ on " 
bishop and bishops were appointed in their stead, 
and the Church of England went on without them. These 
bishops, and the clergy who followed them, were called 
Nonjurors (men who would not take the oath) ; they con- 
sidered themselves as the true Church of England, and went 
on consecrating new bishops now and then. But scarcely 
any of the laity joined them, for private people had to take 



502 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

no oaths, whatever their persona] opinions might be, and went 
on attending the parish church as usual; so that the Non- 
juring Church was a church without any people or buildings 
or money. It lasted on in a sort of feeble way till 1805, 
when the last of the bishops died. 

Although King James had fled from England without 
striking a blow, and some of the Tories and clergy had 

soothed their consciences in accepting William 
Louis S xFv an ^ ^ ai T D y sa ying that he had abdicated, he was 
'not inclined to give up his kingdom altogether. 
He had always, like his brother Charles, been the friend and 
humble ally of Louis XIV., ami he now took refuge with 
him and sought his aid. Louis, perhaps, might not have 
cared much about James if he had not been the mortal 
enemy of William. The Prince of Orange, while still only 
stadtholder (or chief magistrate) of Holland, had seen with 
alarm how powerful France was growing, and that she was 
threatening to overtop and crush all the other countries of 
Europe. He knew, too, that Louis was the most deadly 
enemy of Protestantism. It was the main object of his life 
to withstand him. 

Louis had cruelly persecuted the Protestants in his own 
country, and had revoked a law, the Edict of Nantes, which 

had been made in their favor by a former king. 
' Many of the unfortunate French Protestants had 
fled from their country and had taken refuge in England ; 
taking with them useful trades and arts, which were a great 
benefit to their adopted country, — in particular silk-weav- 
ing, in which they were very skilful. Many of the descend- 
ants of the French refugees of all ranks are living in England 
still. 

Louis, who would have been glad to see the Protestant 
religion destroyed in England also, and who was very indig- 
nant at seeing his enemy William sitting on the throne of 
that country, determined to assist James in recovering his 
dominions. 

It was thought best for James to begin the attempt in 
Ireland, where nearly all the population were Catholics, and 

hated the English Protestant colonists with a deadly 
Ireland 1 " in batred. These colonists were in comparison few in 

number, but they were far more civilized, wealthy, 
and determined. They drew together, resolving to defend 
themselves, their property, and their religion to the last. 



THE REVOLUTION AND KINO WILLIAM. 503 

A great number of them gathered tog-ether into the fortified 
town of Derry, or Londonderry, and refused to allow the 
soldiers sent by King James to enter. It is said that on the 
approach of the enemy's troops, and while the governors of 
the city and the garrison were debating what they should 
do, thirteen young apprentice boys ran and shut the city 
gates in the face of James's officers. 

Then began one of the most famous sieges that ever took 
place in the British Isles. It lasted a hundred and five 
days, until the people were almost starved. A 168g 
handful of oatmeal fried in tallow was a dainty; Siege of 
so were rats and dogs; a puppy's paw sold for five Derr y- 
and sixpence. Four thousand of the soldiers were dead; the 
rest were reduced to skeletons; but still they said, "No sur- 
render." At last, and just before it was too late, English 
ships came to their rescue, bringing food and troops, and the 
Irish besiegers departed. 

Still James stayed in Ireland, holding his court and be- 
having as foolishly and tyrannically as ever. Next year 
William went over to Ireland with an army. A iaan 
great battle was fought near the river i>oyne. 1 he Battle of 
history of that battle seems to illustrate clearly the theBoyn9, 
character and fate of the two kings. Almost before the 
fight was well begun, William was wounded in the right 
shoulder, but he had his wound plastered up; he held his 
sword with his left hand, managed his horse with the wounded 
right, was in all the thickest of the fight, leading and cheering 
his men. James looked on from a safe place on the top of a 
hill, and as soon as he saw that things were going against him, 
he galloped off to Dublin, and never rested till he was safe 
back in France. One of the Irish officers said aftei*wards to 
m Englishman, " Change kings with us and we will fight you 
again." 

After the war in Ireland was over, there was a terrible 
persecution of the Roman Catholics, who were looked on as 
rebels and traitors. Persecution, however, no longer meant 
burning or beheading. The time w T hen people w T ere put to 
death for their religion had long gone by in the British 
Isles. Even this was probably considered more a political 
than a religious persecution. There were indeed laws ban- 
ishing from the country bishops, friars, and others, and 
enacting that if they returned they should be hanged, drawn, 
and quartered, but it does not seem that a single one was 



504 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

really put to death. They were compelled to hide in eaves 
and hovels, as the Covenanters had done in Scotland; and 
the Roman Catholic laity were subjected to unjust and eruel 
laws, which strengthened their bitter hatred to England. 
The worst of these laws, however, were not made in the 
reign of William, but in that of his suecessor. 

While William was away in Ireland the Freneh king sent 
a fleet to invade England, which defeated the English ships 

1690 that were set to guard the coast, and actually landed 
Invasion of some troops on English ground. As soon as it was 
England. ] <nown t i ];lt a f ore ign invader had set foot on the 
shore of Devonshire, the whole country was up in arms. 
Beacon-lights blazed on every hill-top. The lords, the gentry, 
the yeomanry, the whole population, poured down every road 
which led to the sea. The Freneh admiral was startled ; 
he would not stay to fight ; after burning the little defence- 
less town of Teignmouth the invaders returned to their ships, 
having only raised the spirit of the people, turned them 
more heartily than ever to William and Mary, and away from 
James, who employed foreign soldiers against his own 
people. 

Even the Jacobites (as the adherents of James were 
called) shared in the patriotic feeling, and did not wish Eng- 
land to be beaten by foreign fleets and armies. One of 
James's ministers writes to the king how sorry he is to hear 
that " some of your Majesty's servants have been so indis- 
creet as to show their dislike that the French should beat 
the English at sea." 

A year or two afterwards the Freneh prepared to invade 
England again. James and his allies had some hope that 
Russell, the English admiral who was sent against them, as 
well as a great many of the officers and sailors, were secretly 
in favor of the banished king, and would not oppose the 
invasion. Russell did really wish well to James, but he 
did not mean his country to be conquered by the Freneh. 
He said out boldly, "Do not think that I will let the French 
triumph over us in our own seas. Understand this, that if 
I meet them I fight them ; aye, though the king himself 
should be on board." lie kept his word. A great sea-fight 

1692 took plaee which lasted five days, the Battle of La 
Battle of Hogue it is called. The English and the Dutch 
LaHogue. fleetg j () j ]R , ( i together, chased the French ships to 
their own coast, burned or seized a great many of them, ut- 



THE REVOLUTION AND KING WILLIAM. 505 

terly defeated them, and sailed away, singing, " God save 
the king." The joy and pride of the English knew no 
bounds; this was the first great victory they had gained 
over the French since the battle of Agincourt, and the first 
great defeat Louis XIY. had ever met with. 

King William was abroad at this time, but Mary was in 
England, and did all she could in honor of the conquerors, 
and to succor and comfort the wounded. Feeling all she 
could do was not enough, she promised to devote one of the 
finest of the royal palaces for the reception of disabled 
seamen in all future times. The palace she chose for this 
purpose was at Greenwich ; but it was not till after she died 
that the plan was carried into effect. Not many years ago 
the old Greenwich pensioners might still be seen with their 
wooden legs and wooden arms, enjoying their palace and 
beautiful park, but perhaps not remembering the kind and 
gentle queen who had given them that honorable home. 

In spite of William's cold manners and rough ways, he 
and Mary were devotedly attached to each other, and it was 
a most terrible sorrow to him when she died, which 1694 
was not long after Russell's great victory. After Death of 
the plague disappeared, the most formidable disease the l ueen - 
to which the English were subject was small-pox, — now 
held at bay and half conquered by vaccination, but then 
a most common and fatal disease. When Mary was but 
thirty-two years old she died from it, leaving no children. 
William continued to reign for some years longer. 

Until this period no one could print a book or a pamphlet 
without permission. There was an official called a licenser 
or censor, wdiose business it was to read any book 1695 
that an author wished to publish, and give permis- Liberty of 
sion if he approved, or forbid if he disapproved, the P ress - 
the contents. He might forbid good books and allow foolish 
ones. No one was allowed to publish any political news 
without permission, and the government only sanctioned 
what they wanted the nation to know. It had been par- 
ticularly remarked in the reign of James II., that when the 
French king revoked the Edict of Nantes, and persecuted 
the Protestants, the gazettes which were printed twice a 
week, and professed to give information of what was going 
on in Europe, took no notice of these events, nor would 
the English people have known anything about them but 
for private letters and the tales told by the refugees. 



50G GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

No one dared publish a report <>f what was said in Parlia- 
ment; so that it must have been very difficult for the people 
to know how the members they had elected were behaving, 
and whether they were worthy of confidence. 

Any book may now be published which bears the name of 

the printer or publisher. If it is thought to be wicked or 

injurious, the publisher or the author is prosecuted ; but that 

is the only limit to freedom of publication. And this 

News- liberty beo-.in in 1095. The first notable result was 
papers. J *? ,, , . , , 

the quantity of newspapers which began at once to 

be published. There had been but one or two before, and 

those very small, very dull, and often obliged to omit the 

exact things which it would have been most interesting to 

know. Some of the very early ones consisted of only three 

or four pages octavo. Pepys, however, gives us rather a 

good account of a newspaper published in his time. " It is 

pretty, full of news, and no folly in it." 

However, speeches in Parliament were not allowed to be 
published ; and when printers and editors began to do so, 
they ran a chance of being severely punished for infringing 
the "Privileges of Parliament." That, however, was au- 
thorized after a time ;* and now every word spoken in Par- 
liament is printed and flying all over the country almost as 
soon as uttered, and everyone may know what the members 
of the government and Parliament think and say about any 
subject on which the nation is interested. 

Though there was no more fighting in Ireland or England, 
the war with the French was still continued on the Conti- 
nent. At last William had the satisfaction of hum- 

1697, bling his great enemy, and making him sign a 
peace — the Treaty of Ryswick — giving up a great part of 
Ins unjust gains, acknowledging William to be king of Eng- 
land, and promising to do nothing farther to disturb him in 
his possession of the crown, though he still protected James 
as his guest in France. 

This peace did not last long. In 1701 the unfortunate 
and unwise King James died ; and, to the great indignation 
1701 and astonishment of the English, Louis seemed to 
Death of forget his recognition of William, and declared the 
James II. youn g son f James to be king of England, Scot- 
land, and Ireland. This great insult roused the English 

* Xot for nearly a hundred years. — Ed. 



THE REVOLUTION AND KING WILLIAM. 507 

spirit to defiance. The people urged William to declare 
war. He wished for nothing better; but he never went to 
war again. His health had always been very bad, and, 
though he was but fifty-one years old, he Avas visibly dying. 
He was riding on the turf at Hampton Court, when 
his horse stumbled over a molehill and threw him; Death' of 
though it was but a slight accident, the shock was William 
too much for him, and in a few weeks he died. Long 
afterwards the Jacobites used to drink a toast " to the little 
gentleman in black velvet, who did such good service in 
1702," as though they thought the Great Revolution was all 
undone when King William died. 



CHAPTER LII. 



WHIGS AND TORIES. 



Queen Anne and the Churchills. War with France. Battle of Blenheim. 
Peace of Utrecht. Negro slaves. Scotland. George of Hanover. Whigs 
and Tories. Attempts of the Stuart princes. 

As William and Mary left no children, the Princess Anne, 
sister to Mary, and a Protestant like her, succeeded to the 

throne. She was not an interesting character. 
1702. Macaulay says that " when in good humor she was 

meekly stupid, and when in bad humor was sulkily 
stupid." She was, however, beloved by the people ; for she 
was simple, affectionate, and good. She was, like most of her 
subjects, warmly attached to the Church of England and to 
the country. The English, who have always been noted for 
their hatred of foreigners, and who had never loved William, 
though they could not fail to respect him, were heartily sick 
P nee °^ tne Dutch, and glad to be under a sovereign 
George of of their own blood again. Her husband, Prince 
Denmark. Q. eor g e? was even less interesting than herself. A 
description of his character, written while he Avas still living, 
ends with telling us, " He is very fat, loves news, his bottle, 
and the queen ; " and that " he has neither many friends nor 
enemies in England." It seems he was too dull to make 
either. No one thought of making, or even calling, him 
king ; and for a long time the real governors of both queen 
and country were the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. 

They had not yet reached the rank of duke and 

n?«— V.-H- duchess, though they are best known under them. 
Churchills. ' => .„ J . . n , . . 

Churchill was still on his road or preferment from a 

simple page to the highest subject in the land, and was now 

an earl. The duchess had been for many years the queen's 

greatest friend. She was as clever as her mistress was stupid, 

and as overbearing as her mistress was meek. " The loyalty, 

the patience, the self-devotion, were on the side of the mis- 

508 



WHIGS AND TORIES. 509 

tress; the whims, the haughty airs, the fits of ill temper were 
on the side of the waiting-woman." 

The queen and her friend were so intimate that they 
dropped their titles, and gave each other the names of Mrs. 
Morley and Mrs. Freeman. The Duchess of Marlborough 
said that she chose to be called Mrs. Freeman to show how 
frank and bold she was. The two husbands, Prince George 
and the duke, were Mr. Morley and Mr. Freeman. The 
duke was a most remarkable man ; he was wonderfully 
handsome and fascinating in his manners. His education 
had not been much attended to ; he never found writing an 
easy task, and he said himself that all he knew of English 
history he had learned from Shakespeare's plays ; but by his 
own genius he rose to be the greatest soldier and commander 
of his age. He was noted for sweet temper and for human- 
ity far greater than was common among soldiers and gener- 
als of those times. But he was not honorable. He had 
betrayed King James in the most base and ungrateful man- 
ner when his need was the sorest, and had been quite as 
ready to betray his new master, William, when he thought 
it for his own interest. Both he and his wife were avari- 
cious, and even miserly. All the world knew of this weak- 
ness of his, and a story is told that at one time the people 
mobbed another nobleman by mistake for the duke. "I 
will easily convince you," said this nobleman, " that I am 
not my Lord Marlborough. In the first place, I have only 
two guineas about me, and in the second place they are very 
much at your service." It was everywhere known how 
completely Anne was under the dominion of the Churchills; 
and on the Continent it was believed that the handsome earl 
was her lover; but that was entirely wrong. Anne was 
always faithful to her husband, and the person she really 
loved was the duchess. 

As soon as King William was dead, leaving a great war 
with France just beginning, Marlborough became the prin- 
cipal man in the country, and one of the principal men in 
Europe. The war went on for many years, and 
was very glorious to England. The object of it War with 
still was to prevent France and the ever-encroach- 
ing Louis from becoming too powerful. He was attempting 
to add Spain to his other dominions by making his grandson 
king of that country. When he dismissed him to take pos- 
session of his crown he was reported to have said, "There 



510 GUEST'S ENGLfBH HISTORY. 

are no more Pyrenees." The other nations of Europe, in- 
cluding England, were determined that the Pyrenees should 
not be obliterated, and that France and Spain should not be 
united for the benefit of the family of Louis XIV. It was 
in the course of this war that the English got possession of 
Gibraltar, which they have kept ever since, and which is 
looked on as the key of the Mediterranean Sea. 

But the most important of the fighting was not in Spain, 
nor did the Duke of Marlborough go there himself. Most 
of the German states took part in the war also ; Prussia, 
Hanover, and some others, sided with England ; Bavaria and 
Cologne took part with the French. Of all Marlborough's 

1704 g r e<it victories, the most famous Mas that of Blen- 
Battle of heim, in Bavaria, the name of which is very familiar 
Blenheim. to Englishmen, partly by the palace which was built 
and presented to Marlborough by the nation, and named 
after his greatest triumph, partly by the charming little poem 
of Southey. 

That battle might almost be said to have turned the for- 
tunes of the whole war ; the French forces for that year were 
broken to pieces, and all the conquests they had made in 
Germany were taken back from them ; they lost one of their 
most valuable allies, Bavaria, yet there were many people in 
England to ask what good came of it. The Tory party 
highly disapproved of the Avar, and thwarted the counsels of 
Marlborough every way possible. 

The Tories disapproved of the war with France for one 
thing, because it made French wine so dear. "All the 
bottle companions," says one historian, "many physicians, 
and great numbers of the lawyers and inferior clergy, were 
united together in the faction against the Duke of Marlbor- 
ough." "It was strange," says another, "how much the 
desire for French wine and the clearness of it alienated many 
men from the Duke of Marlborough's friendship." 

There were other reasons against continuing the war 
which had great weight with the Tory party, one of which, 
perhaps, was that the king of France was the friend and 
protector of the old and exiled royal family. The Tories 
came into power again after a time ; the Duke and Duchess 
of Marlborough fell into disfavor; the queen took another 
favorite, and peace was made with France. The great duke 
was deprived of all his offices, retired to the Continent, and 
never saw his mistress aoain. After her death he was 



WHIGS AND TORIES. 511 

called back to England, raised to his former posts, and when 

he died was buried with great glory in Westminster Abbey. 

It was agreed upon in the peace made at the time m3 

of his disgrace that Spain and France should never Treaty of 

be united, though the French prince was suffered Utre< * t - 

to be king of Spain ; that England should keep Gibraltar and 

the island of Minorca in the Mediterranean, and that she 

should receive a large French province in North America 

which is now called Nova Scotia. The treaty of Utrecht, 

however, as this peace is called, was not to the real glory, 

though it was to the advantage, of England. In making it 

she deserted her allies in such a dishonorable way that her 

own soldiers were bitterly ashamed, and she really for that 

time deserved the title of " Perfide Albion." One of the 

stipulations of the same treaty was that England should 

have the right of supplying the Spanish colonies in America 

with negro slaves. 

Slavery was supposed to have been extinguished hundreds 

of years before even the stern conqueror William had seen 

the duty of putting down the Bristol slave trade ; 

and it was disgraceful, after so many centuries The * slave 

e ^, . . & n . . .,. J „ , . trade, 

or Christianity and growing civilization, to find it 

again in full force. The only explanation was that the slaves 

were not of the same race and religion, but negroes and 

heathen. Men were far from realizing what St. Paul had 

said, that " God had made of one blood all the nations of 

the earth ; " and though they questioned whether it would 

be lawful to hold Christians in bondage, they had no such 

doubt about unbaptized Pagans. 

The employment of negro slaves, strange to say, had been 

begun from motives of humanity, and was encouraged by 

one of the most tender-hearted of Christians. Seeing how 

cruelly the Spanish worked the poor natives in the silver 

mines, not long after the discovery of America, a priest 

named Las Casas, out of pure benevolence, recommended 

the employing of negroes, because they were stronger, and 

could endure hardships under which the poor Indians sank. 

Little did he foresee the consequences ; the kidnapping, the 

tortures, the murders. This wicked trade brought great 

profits, and the English people were so dead to any feeling 

of pity for the wretched negroes, that this part of the treaty 

of Utrecht seems to have pleased them better than any 

other. 



512 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Not only did the Tories gain the upper hand in the matter 
of the war and the disgrace of the Duke and Duchess of 
Marlborough ; there was actually a revival of the old High 
Church and Tory doctrine of passive obedience and non- 
resistance to an hereditary sovereign. This doctrine would 
perhaps never have been revived in the Church of England 
had there been a tyrannical, or Catholic, or Dissenting mon- 
arch; but with Queen Anne on the throne, who, though she 
strove to be impartial, was inclined to Toryism and Higli 
Church doctrines, it was a good opportunity for bringing it 
forward once more. A Dr. Sacheverell accordingly 
Dr. Sac'he- preached two sermons, declaring that the Revolu- 

verell's tion had been unlawful, and that nothing could 
sermons. . , . » . , . . „ *7 . -r-* 

ever justify resistance to a king. tor this Dr. 

Sacheverell was tried and condemned by the House of Lords ; 
but they gave him so light a punishment that it was almost 
a victory to him rather than a defeat. When he travelled 
through the country not long after this he was received like 
a hero or conquering prince : with flags, bell-ringing, bands 
of music, and every sign of rejoicing. This was made an 
opportunity, too, for attacking the Dissenters, who of course 
had been in favor of the Revolution; some of their chapels 
were attacked by mobs, and even their private dwellings 
were threatened. Thus it is evident that though a fail- 
amount of toleration was granted by the law, and approved 
by the more enlightened classes, it had not by any means 
made its way among the masses. Some of the bishops and 
of the higher London clergy were in favor of toleration, but 
the country clergy, who at that time were much lower in 
position and education than they are now, and the country 
people, had not yet attained to such an elevation of mind. 

We are indebted to a great writer of essays for a charm- 
ing idea of rural England at this time. Addison, a brilliant 
and judicious man, and one of the most delightful writers in 
Queen Anne's reign, has given us a description of a country 
gentleman, which is as perfect in its way as the pictures 
Chaucer painted so vividly three hundred years before. Sir 
Roger de Coverley might, one thinks, have been the lineal 
descendant of Chaucer's knight fallen on less heroic times. 
He lives in his old country seat, and " does not a little value 
himself upon his ancient descent." There Ave see him, the 
very ideal of a "fine old English gentleman ; " quite a little 
king amongst the people, but a beneficent, tender-hearted, 



WHIGS AND TORIES. 513 

sympathizing king. All his servants have grown gray in 
his house. "You would take his valet de chambre for his 
brother; his butler is gray-headed, his groom is one of the 
gravest men that I have ever seen, and his coachman has the 
looks of a privy councillor." He is such a kind master that 
none of his servants ever wish to leave him ; his manners 
towards them are "a mixture of the father and the master 
of the family." 

He is equally beloved by the tenantry and neighbors. 
" The farmers' sons thought themselves happy if they could 
open a gate for the good old knight as he passed by ; which 
he generally requited with a nod or a smile, and a kind 
inquiry after their fathers or uncles." Just as kind and 
considerate is he towards his old horses and dogs, which are 
kept with great care and tenderness, in remembrance of their 
past services. He rides out hunting "encompassed by his 
tenants and servants, and cheering his hounds with all the 
gayety of five and twenty ; " but at the last moment, when 
the poor hare is quite spent, and almost within the reach of 
her enemies, a signal is given, and the dogs come to a full 
stop. "At the same time Sir Roger rode forward, and, 
alighting, took up the hare in his arms, which he soon after 
delivered up to one of his servants, with an order if she 
could be kept alive to let her go in his great orchard ; where 
it seems he has several of those prisoners of war, who live 
together in a very comfortable captivity." 

He is a high-bred gentleman in every look and every 
thought; but his education had not been very profound. 
He did not choose to have a very learned clergyman as his 
chaplain, since he " was afraid of being insulted with Latin 
and Greek at his own table." His favorite reading seems to 
have been " Baker's Chronicle;" of which quotations have 
been given. He does not quite know what to think about 
witches, gypsies, and fortune-tellers. He takes care to pro- 
tect a j)oor old woman, who is suspected of practising the 
black art, from ill usage ; but at the same time advises her, 
" as a justice of the peace, to avoid all communication with 
the devil, and never to hurt any of her neighbors' cattle." 

The account of the rural Sunday and of Sir Roger at 
church is too charming to be spoiled by extracts; it ought 
to be read as Addison wrote it ("Spectator," No. 112, July 
9, 1711), as indeed ought his whole portraiture. We can 
hardly fail to think, as we read it, " He was a veray parflt 
gentle knight." 



514 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

It was in Anne's reign that England and Scotland finally 
became one kingdom. Though they had been under one 

170 7 king for more than a hundred years, they had not 
Union of been looked on as one nation ; for each had a sepa- 
andScot- rate Parliament, .separate laws, and a separate coin- 
land, age of money. Since many of the Scotch people 
looked on the Stuart kings as peculiarly their own, they had 
fought for King James in the days of William and Mary, 
and afterwards fought for his son and grandson. 

Scotland was divided almost completely between two dis- 
tinct races of men. The Lowlanders were (see p. 235) 
really of English or Saxon blood ; and the southern part of 
Scotland, which was the part inhahited by them, was nearly 
as much civilized as England. These Scotch were rigid 
Protestants and Presbyterians. But in the northern part, 
where the Highlanders lived, everything was very different. 
The inhabitants of those mountainous regions were descended 
from the old Celtic tribes whom first the Romans and then 
the English had hemmed in among the hills and lakes, and 
who had mixed but little with their southern neighbors, 
except to fight or rob them. They were still separated into 
tribes or clans ; and the head or chief of the clan was the 
only human being they respected. Him they would obey 
almost like a god upon earth, and would fight in any quarrel 
he might have in hand without the slightest care for the 
right of it. Their code of morality was rather singular. 
Stealing cows, or, as it was politely called, "lifting," was a 
most honorable occupation, and worthy of a gentleman, 
next best, indeed, to fighting; but stealing sheep was de- 
grading and infamous. Work or labor of any sort was also 
degrading, and only fit for women. The Highlanders had a 
grace and charm of manner which was sadly wanting in the 
Lowlanders, and which seems to belong to the Celtic races. 
The Highland tribes still for the most part adhered to the 
Catholic religion. It was a long time after this before these 
wild people could learn order and obedience, — not till after 
one or two great rebellions ; but the beginning of it was 
made when the two countries were brought, at least nomi- 
nally, under one law. Though after this there was but one 
Parliament for both nations, the Scotch never accepted the 
Church of England, but retained their Presbyterian religion. 

Anne had several children ; but the same fatality which 
seemed to attend the Stuart family, as it had before attended 



WHIGS AMt XOltlKS'. 515 

the Tudors, pursued her, and they all died in infancy or 
childhood. It was necessary, therefore, to look out for a 
successor to the throne. The English were resolved not to 
have the son of James, whom Louis XIV. had declared to 
be king, and who, though he called himself James III., was 
generally known as the " Chevalier de St. George," or less 
politely as the " Pretender," and who was a Roman Catholic 
like his father. Many Jacobites in England secretly hoped 
that he might yet have a chance when Anne died, since the 
next heir to the throne was a stranger and foreigner, and 
only a distant relation to the royal family. 

It had been settled during William's life that if neither 
he and Queen Mary nor Anne left any children, the crown 
should be given to a Protestant German prince, the Elector 
of Hanover, who was descended from the queen of Bohemia, 
that daughter of James I. who had been called the Queeu 
of Hearts.* This is the last change of dynasty or royal 
family which has taken place. The House of Hanover, or 
Brunswick, as it is often called, has gone on reigning in 
England ever since, though it has no longer any connection 
with Hanover. It seems that Queen Anne herself would 
have been inclined to favor her half-brother ; and, had he 
consented to change his religion, he would doubtless have 
been welcomed back to England, for there were still many 
Tories who longed for the old royal line to be restored. To 
his lasting honor, the young prince would not change his 
religion for a crown. With his own hand he wrote these 
plain and honest words, "I neither want counsel nor advice 
to remain unalterable in my fixed resolution of never dis- 
sembling my religion, but rather to abandon all than act 
against my conscience and honor, cost what it will." 

When Queen Anne died, therefore, Prince George of 
Hanover was sent for from Germany, and proclaimed king. 
Thus England saw herself once more under the rule 17u 
of a foreigner. George could not even speak Eng- Death of 
hsh ; and the only May in which he and his prime Anne - 
minister, Sir Robert Walpole, could talk together, was in 
very bad Latin. His private life was not very much better 
than Charles II. 's. He was neither an intellectual nor an 
attractive man, and was never much liked in Eng- 
land. He returned the compliment, as William had Geor £ e L 

* See Marvel's poem, "Ye Meaner Beauties of the Night." 



516 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

done, by not liking England much. He greatly preferred 
his little dominion in Germany, and really seems to have 
been of no use at all in England except as a solid figure on 
the throne, which kept James Stuart out. 

The old romantic and religious reverence for royalty 
seemed to die out under these new and elected kings. 
Though they were distantly descended from the royal family, 
they were not in the direct line, and there seemed no special 
sacredness about them. It is amusing to see, in the days of 
the Stuarts, how astonished Pepyswas when it dawned upon 
his understanding that kings and princes had some resem- 
blance to other mortals. One day he was with King Charles 
in his barge, "hearing him and the duke (James) talk, and 
seeing and observing their manner of discourse. And, God 
forgive me ! though 1 admire them with all the duty possi- 
ble, yet the more a man considers and observes them, the 
less he finds of difference between them and other men, 
though (blessed be God !) they are both princes of great 
nobleness and spirits." 

The miraculous power of curing disease by the royal 
touch, which had come down from the days of Edward the 
Confessor, was not supposed to be conferred upon the Hano- 
verian princes ; but if anyone could perform that miracle, it 
was the banished Stuarts, who did still practise it now and 
then, or attempt to do so. In England there no longer 
seemed anything supernatural in the commonplace and 
phlegmatic gentleman at the head of the government. The 
history of England became very prosaic. 

For two hundred years the country had been often in a 
state of excitement. There had been the Reformation and 
its martyrs, the Spanish Armada and the deliverance of 
England, the long struggle against despotism, both in Church 
and State. These had stirred men's hearts to their very 
depths, and roused them to enthusiasm and heroism. But 
now that there was no more tyranny and no more martyr- 
dom, everything gradually subsided into a quietness like 
stagnation. Conflicts, both religious and political, still went 
on, but they were no longer at fever heat. 

It was thought to be one of the most admirable effects of 
the Royal Society, which had been founded thirty or forty 
years before, that it drew men's minds off from political 
matters, and furnished them with "subjects of discourse 
-which might be treated without warmth of passion." Addi- 



WHIGS AND TORIES. 517 

son, who, with, all his wisdom and goodness, was evidently 
not a natural philosopher, does not speak very learnedly 
or with any just appreciation of those wonderful inven- 
tions before referred to. He says, "The air-pump, the 
barometer, the quadrant, and the like inventions, were 
thrown out to those busy spirits as tubs and barrels are to a 
whale, that he may let the ship sail on without disturbance, 
while he diverts himself with those innocent amusements." 
While the philosophers were thus " diverting " themselves, 
we can see that the poets had undergone a change too. 
Instead of leading men to feel or to imagine, instead of 
carrying them into fairyland or dreamland, into heaven or 
hell, they taught them to judge and to reflect. Pope's 
poetry, some of which is very interesting, is generally cold, 
hard, and brilliant, like cast steel.* 

A great part of the history of these times is taken up 
with the disputes between Whigs and Tories, each striving 
for the ascendancy. It is not very interesting to 
follow the details of their struggle, but it is well to Whigs and 
know clearly what they each wished and believed. 
These two great parties were then, just as they are now, 
agreed up to a certain point. They both desired to maintain 
the English constitution ; they both wished for an hereditary 
monarch, who should govern the country in agreement with 
the Houses of Parliament, the Lords and Commons. The To- 
ries did not wish for a despotic sovereign, who could govern 
according to his own will, unshackled by law or Parliament, 
any more than the Whigs did. The Whigs did not wish for 
a republic and the putting down of the monarchy altogether 
any moi'e than the Tories did. The great difference between 
them Avas that the Tories seem to have thought the consti- 
tution was already quite perfect, and that no change ought 
ever to be made in it; whilst the Whigs held that as other 
circumstances — the condition of the people, for instance — 
changed with time, the constitution ought to adapt itself to 
those changes, and to grow as the nation grew. The Tories 
thought most of the rights of the king and the upper 
classes, the duty of order and obedience, and the evil of 
rebellion. The Whigs thought most of the blessing of lib- 



* This change from the seventeenth to the eighteenth century is 
very marked. The author lias indicated the nature of the change, 
but an elaborate essay would be necessary to unfold it. — En. 



518 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

erty and the rights of the whole nation. Tlie Tories wished 
all people to obey the bishops, to believe the Prayer-book, 
and to go to church. The Whigs thought all people ought 
to judge for themselves, and might become Dissenters if 
they thought fit. 

It is well worthy of note that the old nobility of England 
have never, as might perhaps have been expected, belonged 
entirely to the Tory class. A great number of them have 
always cared heartily for the rights and liberties of the 
whole nation, and have been the leaders of the Whigs. 

William III., who wished to be fair and just to all parties, 
had chosen his ministers partly from the Tories and some 
from the Whigs. It would be called to-day a compromise 
cabinet. When the two did not agree, which w r as of course 
very often, he himself decided between them. The same 
plan was followed in Anne's reign, and she tried to hold the 
balance fairly. But it was extremely difficult to do this, 
and it kept the king or queen in a state of anxiety, while 
the quarrels between the two parties made it almost im- 
possible for the government to act in a firm or decided 
manner. In the latter part of her reign a new plan was tried 
— that of choosing all the members of the government, the 
cabinet, as they were called, from one side or the 
cabinet other, according to the majority of the House of 
Commons. Thus, if the people in the country were 
in favor of the Tories, and chose a majority of Tory members 
of Parliament, the ministers appointed would be Tories too, 
and would be strong, agreeing with each other, and having 
the greater part of the country to back them. If the people 
were more inclined to the Whigs, and elected a majority 
of Whig members, the ministers would be Whigs too. 
Whenever the country changed in opinion, which was sure 
to happen sometimes, then the ministers were changed also. 
This is the system by which England has been governed 
ever since. 

As it was the principles of the Whigs which had set 
Geoi'ge I. on the throne, they came into power, and con- 
tinued to govern the country for a long time. One of the 
first things they did was to banish some of the leading 
Tories. It was said, though not strictly proved, that they 
had been secretly planning to raise James Stuart, the " Pre- 
tender," to the throne. It is certain that many of the Tories 
still had an uneasy feeling concerning the divine right of 



Whigs and tories. 519 

kings, and could not feel quite clear that it had been right 
to drive James away, and to pass over his son. But these 
doubts were not strong enough to induce them to risk any- 
thing to bring the Chevalier or Pretender back. 

The year after Anne's death, the son of James made an 
effort to recover the kingdom. The attempt was begun in the 
Highlands of Scotland, as most of the wild clans- 
men, or rather their chiefs, were in favor of the Stu- The first 
arts ; almost the only one on the other side was Jacobite 
the Duke of Argyll, who was at the head of the nsine- 
Campbells. The clansmen cared neither for James nor 
George, but oidy for their own chiefs, and -would fight as 
willingly on one side as the other. They liked the fighting, 
and the plunder of the rich Lowlanders and English still 
more. 

It was hoped that, when once a beginning was made, many 
of the English would rise also in support of the prince. But 
very few of them did so. The English government arrested 
some of the most influential men who were thought likely 
to join the insurrection, and the few who did really rebel 
were defeated at Preston. A battle was also fought in 
Scotland at Sheriff-muir, but not much came of that, for it 
was never decided which party got the best of it. As the 
old ballad quoted in the "Heart of Midlothian" has it — 

" There's some say that we wan, 
And some say that they wan, 
And some say that none wan 
At a', man. 

But one thing is sure, 
That at Sheriff-muir 
A battle there was, 

Which I saw, man." 

The rebellion was so unsuccessful that the Chevalier was 
glad to escape safely to France. He made one or two other 
efforts during the reign of George I., getting different for- 
eign nations to help him, — once the king of Sweden, once 
the king of Spain, — but all to no purpose. Xor had his 
son any better success when his turn came to try his fortune. 
Neither of these two princes, James's son and grandson, 
were great or good men, worthy to be kings of England. 
The elder one is said " not to have been absolutely wanting 
in capacity or courage," but it was added that he gave the 



520 GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 

most undeniable evidence of being his father's own son 
(which we saw was generally disbelieved at his birth) "by 
constantly resisting the counsels of wise men." The reading 
public feels a romantic interest in his son, Prince Charles 
Edward, because of his adventures, and because of the inter- 
esting representations of him in the Waverley novels; but 
those who knew him best give a very different view of his 
character from the chivalrous one of IS ir Walter Scott. One 
of his friends and supporters was obliged to confess, "I 
never heard him express any noble or benevolent sentiment, 
the certain indications of a great soul and a good heart, or 
discover any sorrow or compassion for the misfortunes of so 
many worthy men who had suffered in his cause." 

When George I. died, his son George II. succeeded him 
without dispute, and it was not till many years after that 
there was any more trouble with the Stuarts. But 
Tbise^ond when the young Prince Charles Edward was about 
Jacobite twenty-five he went over to make one more effort 
rising. - n k| B father's cause and his own. The Highlands 
rose again, and for a time all things went well with him. 
He gained a victoi-y over the English at Preston-Pans in 
Scotland, and kept a gay court in Edinburgh, though the 
castle still held out for the English. He then marched into 
England at the head of a wild little army of Highlanders, 
hoping that the Tory lords and gentlemen would join him 
in great numbers. But he was disappointed. These lords 
and gentlemen were safe, free, and prosperous under the 
government of George II. ; and though they might grumble 
sometimes, and perhaps think kindly of the exiled family, 
their feelings were very tepid, and they did not care enough 
to risk their lives and fortunes by rebelling. The common 
people were still more indifferent. They seemed inclined, 
as was observed at the time, to look on and cry, "Fight dog! 
fight bear!" without taking any part themselves if they 
could help it; but feeling very angry with the Pretender 
for coming to disturb the peace of the kingdom. 

When the prince had marched as far as Derby, and had 
found no support in England, he had to march back again. A 
last decisive battle was fought at Culloden in Scotland, and 
then he too had to flee.* He was hiding in the Highlands for 
five months, and had as many adventures as his great-uncle 

* See Campbell's poem " Locliiel." — Ed. 



WHIGS AND TORIES. 521 

Charles II. ; at last he arrived safely in France. This was 
the last serious attempt of the Stuarts. Though the Jaco- 
bites continued to drink the health of the " king over the 
water" till nearly the end of George II.'s reign, they did 
nothing more for him. A few years later the English Roman 
Catholics even began to pray for the royal family of the 
House of Hanover. 

The gradual dying out of Jacobitism is rather amusingly 
illustrated by an anecdote of Dr. Johnson. He gloried in 
being a Tory to the last hour of his life, and had, doubt- 
less, some sentimental attachment to the House of Stuart. 
This, however, did not prevent him from being fervently 
loyal to the reigning family and receiving a pension from 
King George. It appears that certain reflections were 
cast upon him for accepting this pension, as being incon- 
sistent with his principles. When this was mentioned to 
him, " Why, sir," said he, with a hearty laugh, " it is a 
mighty foolish noise that they make. I have accepted of si- 
pension as a reward which has been thought due to my 
literary merit ; and now that I have this pension I am the 
same man in every respect that I have ever been ; I retain 
the same principles. It is true that I cannot now curse " 
(smiling) " the House of Hanover ; nor would it be decent 
for me to drink King James's health in the wine that King 
George gives me money to pay for. But, sir, I think that 
the pleasure of cursing the House of Hanover and drinking 
King James's health are amply overbalanced by three hun- 
dred pounds a year." 

"He no doubt," says Boswell, "had an early attachment 
to the House of Stuart ; but his zeal had cooled as his rea- 
son strengthened. Indeed, I heard him once say that after 
the death of a violent Whig, with whom he used to con- 
tend with great eagerness, he felt his Toryism much abated." 

Charles Edward fell into most disreputable habits 1807. 
abroad, and died very little respected by anyone. th^Sta?- *" 
His younger brother became a cardinal, and died in arts. 
the beginning of this century. So passed away the royal 
House of Stuart. 



CHAPTER LIII. 

SLEEP AXD WAKING. 

The Whigs and Walpole. Decline of enthusiasm. Foreign wars. Disasters and 
despondency. The elder Pitt. Canada and Wolfe. India and Clive. The 
Methodists. 

George II. was not much more interesting than his father, 
nor was his private character any better. Though he could 

speak English, he did not feel like an Englishman, 
Georee 7 il mit to °k &* more interest in Hanover. The Whigs 

continued to govern England, with Sir Robert 
Walpole as prime minister. Walpole was a shrewd, sensible 
man, and the country became more and more pacific under 
his influence. The Tories and the Church grew reconciled 
to the new dynasty, and the Dissenters were placed in a 
better position. In order to enable them to hold offices in 
their towns as mayors, aldermen, etc., from which the Test and 
Corporation Acts shut them out, a law was passed called the 
Indemnity Act, which excused them from receiving the sac- 
rament of the Church of England. The same Act was 
passed again and again, until about fifty years ago, when the 
Test and Corporation Acts themselves were repealed. 

Both Whigs and Tories had learned to act Avith modera- 
tion, and not to regard each other as mortal enemies. But 

though Walpole sincerely desired the good of the 
apoe ' country, he did a great deal to degrade its char- 
acter. The principal means employed to insure tranquillity 
and perpetuate his power was the bestowing of places, pen- 
sions, and bribes. The high spirit of English gentlemen was 
sunk so low that many, even members of Parliament, would 
sell their votes to the unscrupulous minister. In this way 
he could nearly always get majorities in the House of Com- 
mons. 

The government had also a great deal of influence in the 
election of members of Parliament. It was, perhaps, worse 
than it had been in the days of Jack Cade. In many places 

522 



SLEEP AND VVAK1XG. 523 

the government could dictate the election of anyone whom 
they wished to have returned ; in other places great noble- 
men could do the same. Some places, which in old days 
were rich and important, and used to send members to repre- 
sent them in Parliament, had now dwindled away into little 
villages, or less than villages, where there might be only a 
few sheep and shepherds left. Still they went on sending 
members to Parliament. These came to be called "Totten 
boroughs." Other places which had formerly been insig- 
nificant hamlets had now grown into large towns, with 
thousands of inhabitants ; these could not send any mem- 
bers at all. 

Thus it was evident that Parliament did not fairly repre- 
sent the opinion of the country. Walpole knew this very 
well ; he knew, too, that it was his duty to act according to 
the sense and will of the nation ; and, however sure he 
might be of a majority in the House, yet if the public at 
large really cared about the matter, and showed that they 
objected to his plans, he always gave way. 

George II., being a brave man and a good soldier, was 
fond of interfering in continental wars, in which England 
had no real interest, and she need not have been burdened. 
These wars are very confusing, and have not much 1741 
to do with English history. The first was the War Foreign 
of the Austrian Succession, and it was not popular wars " 
in England, because the people believed that the king took 
part in it for the good of Hanover. William Pitt, a patri- 
otic young member of Parliament who was just rising into 
note, and afterwards became the most eminent man in 
England, said, "It is now too apparent that this great, this 
powerful, this formidable kingdom is considered only a 
province to a despicable electorate." The king liked war, 
and he loved Hanover, so he hated Pitt for this saying. 
One of the politicians in this reign, who had succeeded 
Walpole as prime minister, summing up in a few words his 
own ideas about the foreign wars, called it "a noble ambi- 
tion to knock the heads of the kings of Europe together, and 
jumble something out of it which may be of service to this 
country." 

The principal advantages which resulted to England out 
of the "jumble" were not in Europe at all, but in Asia and 
America. England had long possessed large colonies in 
America, but Canada, which at present belongs to England, 



524 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

was at that time colonized by the French. The English 
colonies were part of what are now called the United States. 
Though those States are now a republic, they belonged to 
England, and were under English rule until about a hundred 
years ago. Many of them are still called after those former 
rulers: Virginia after the virgin Queen Elizabeth; Maryland 
after Henrietta Maria, the wife of Charles I. ; the Carolinas 
after Charles II. ; New York after the Duke of York, James 
II.; Georgia after George II. 

There were often disputes between the French and Eng- 
lish colonies about the boundary lines. At last they came 
to open hostilities. The mother countries joined in the 
dispute, and there was soon war both in Europe and America. 
At first everything went very ill for England. Horace 
Walpole, the son of old Sir Robert, and one of the witty 
writers of the day, says in a letter to a friend, "If it were 
not for the life that is put into the town now and then by 
very bad news from abroad, one should be quite stupefied." 
Plenty of that "life' 1 was put into the town. The 

1756. French were successful in America, and in Europe 
the English lost the island of Minorca, which was 
considered a terrible disaster. So enraged were the people 
of England, that Admiral Byng, who had failed to relieve 
Minorca, was brought to trial. Though no charge could be 
brought against him, at the very worst, but that he had made 
a mistake, such as any man might have made, nothing would 
pacify the nation but his execution. 

This cruel act, of course, brought, no consolation and no 
remedy.* Everything seemed to be going ill ; the nation 
was utterly disheartened ; there seemed no one to be trusted, 
no one who could do anything but the one man whom the 
king hated, William Pitt. " I am sure," he said, " that I can 
save the nation, and that no one else can." The nation was 
sure of it too, and the king was obliged to make him prime 
minister. 

Pitt, who was afterwards created Earl of Chatham, was a 
man of wonderful genius, and was, perhaps, the greatest 

1757 prime minister that England ever had. There was 
William something grand and lofty about him which seemed 
Pitt. tQ ra j se tbe S pi r it and character of the whole nation 

* Voltaire said the English hung an admiral "to encourage the 
others." — Ed. 



SLEEP AND WAKING. 525 

as much as WaJpole had lowered it. He was a very poor 
man when he began life ; his whole private fortune was 
about a hundred pounds a year; but he did not love money; 
he scorned bribes and corruption, and kept his hands and 
heart pure to the last day of his life. He had also a won- 
derful eloquence. Horace Walpole, after describing the fine 
speech of another great orator, breaks off with, " What 
could be beyond this? Nothing but what was beyond what 
ever was, and that was Pitt." The spirit of honor, disinter- 
estedness, and self-sacrifice in one man kindled the same in 
those who beheld it. The people began to feel the stirring 
of a nobler life within them. Pitt became the nation's idol. 
Englishmen woke from their torpor, their love of selfish ease 
and profit ; they showed once more a self-sacrifice, courage, 
and patriotism worthy of their fathers of old. 

Pitt was skilful in choosing men. He did not appoint 
them only because of their age or rank, but according to 
their qualities. He sent a very gallant young general to 
Canada, James Wolfe, who quickly turned defeat 
into victory, but whose career was soon ended. In Canada - 
taking the city of Quebec from the French he fell mortally 
wounded, but he did not die till he heard the enemy 
were vanquished. " They run," he overheard some 
one say. "Who run?" asked the dying man, lifting himself 
up. When they told him it was the French, he sank down 
again, saying, "Then I die happy." His victory put an end 
to the French power in America, and gave to England the 
large confederation of colonies called Canada. 

It was Pitt's clear faculties which perceived how to turn 
the bravery of the wild Highlanders to account. Since the 
rebellion of 1745 the chiefs of many of the clans had been 
banished, and the people were left as sheep without a shep- 
herd. Their main ideas of life had always been devotion to 
their chiefs and love of fighting. Pitt formed two Highland 
regiments, which were soon among the finest in the whole 
army. The soldiers became as devoted to their regiment as 
they used to be to their clan, and were as proud of fighting 
for king and country as they used to be of fighting against 
both. Scotland continually improved in civilization and 
prosperity. 

Soon, too, England began to acquire power in India. The 
French and English were rivals there also. Neither 
had any dominion, but each had some commercial n ia ' 



526 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOKY. 

interests. There was a company in London called the East 
India Company, which had been established simply for trad- 
ing purposes. They had some little settlements on different 
parts of the coast of India, consisting of a few square miles, 
for which they paid rent to the natives, and where the mer- 
chants lived. These settlements had a few small forts, and 
a few soldiers to protect them. The merchants grew rich, 
but they had no thought of gaining possession of the country. 
The most important of these little establishments was at 
Madras. Not very far south, at Pondieherry, the French 
had a similar one. As the two countries at home were at 
war, the rival merchant settlements were soon at war too. 
Here also the French were successful at first, and the Eng- 
lish were reduced to great danger and distress. It 
seemed as if all would be lost, when Clive, a mer- 
chant's clerk, who had been a great scapegrace in his youth, 
began to show such wonderful courage and genius that he 
was appointed to command the little English army. All his 
daring plans succeeded, to the amazement of French, Eng- 
lish, and natives. The greater part of the natives, thinking 
the French were sure to be victorious, had taken part with 
them ; but Clive with his handful of troops defeated them 
all. When he had completely triumphed in Madras he went 
north to Bengal. The nabob, or ruler of that province, had 
taken possession of a settlement which the English had at 
Calcutta, and had made himself forever infamous by shut- 
ting up his prisoners in the den so well known now by the 
name of the Black Hole. 

Clive was sent with a small army to punish the nabob. 
He had about nine hundred English troops and fifteen hun- 
dred natives. The nabob's army consisted of nearly sixty 
thousand. "On this occasion," says Macaulay, " for the first 
and for the last time, his dauntless spirit, during a few hours, 
shrank from the fearful responsibility of making a decision. 
He called a council of Avar. The majority pronounced 
against fighting, and Clive declared his concurrence with 
the majority. But scarcely had the meeting broken up 
when he was himself again. He retired alone under the 
shade of some trees, and passed near an hour there in 
thought. He came back determined to put everything to 
the hazard, and gave orders that all should be in readiness 
for passing the river" which separated the English from 
their foe on the morrow. Lone: afterwards he said that he 



SLEEP AND WAKING. 527 

had never called but one council of war, and that if he had 
taken the advice of that council the British would never 
have been masters of Bengal. 

The morrow came, the river was crossed, and in little 
more than an hour the nabob's great army was put to flight. 
This is called the Battle of Plassey. From that 1757 
time the English gained ever more and more power Battle of 
and influence in India, till it has now almost en- Plasse y- 
tirely become an English possession. The first*. English 
rulers thought too much of growing rich, and plundered and 
oppressed the natives shamefully; but for a long time past 
England has striven to rule that great country for its own 
good; has given it wise laws, education, and justice; and 
there is good reason to hope that the people are happier and 
better cared for than they ever were under the native rulers, 
who, for the most part, were cruel and ignorant tyrants. 

The latter end of George's reign was very glorious for 
England. Horace Walpole no longer depended on bad news 
from abroad to put a little life into the town. " I don't know 
how the Romans did," he writes, " but I cannot support 
two victories every week. . . . One cannot take the trouble 
of sending every victory by itself. I stay till I have enough 
to make a pacquet, and then write to you." And again, 
"You would not know your own country. You left it a 
private little island living upon its means. You would find 
it the capital of the world." 

From the time there had been safety and toleration, in- 
stead of danger and persecution, religion had rather 
fallen asleep. People had ceased to think so much rg^ e io °n 
about it, and it had become a respectable and com- 
monplace affair, in which no one was much interested, and 
with which very few but the middle classes concerned them- 
selves. The higher ranks, from the king downwards, were 
very immoral ; they drank enormously, and no gentleman 
was ashamed of being seen intoxicated ; they also swore 
frightfully. Grave, great, and heroic thoughts no longer 
occupied men's minds. The life of the upper classes in 
London at this time was hardly any better than it had been 
under Charles II., and very different indeed from what it 
had been in the golden days of Elizabeth. In her time 
there had been grace and gallantry, wit and pleasure ; but 
those were, as we may say, the ornaments of strong and 
brave character ; the fair blossoming of a noble root. Sid- 



528 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

ney and Raleigh were men of high thoughts and high deeds, 
as well as gracious and accomplished gentlemen. During 
the eighteenth century there were very tine gentlemen, gay, 
witty, good-humored, and charming; but those qualities 
were no longer the ornaments, they were the very best part of 
the man; underneath were carelessness, selfishness, frivolity, 
and too often wickedness. One of the best and most bril- 
liant of these fine gentlemen, the same Horace Walpole 
quoted above, when once he pansed in his gay career to 
think of his past and his future, wrote a few words which 
seem a more emphatic comment on that butterfly life than 
many sermons. " Nor can I well agree with Waller," he 
says, "that 

' the soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed. 
Lets in new lights through chinks that time has made.' 

Chinks, I am afraid there are, but instead of new lights I 
find nothing but darkness visible, that serves only to dis- 
cover sights of woe. I look back through my chinks, I find 
errors, follies, faults; forward — old age and death, pleas- 
ures fleeting from me, no virtues succeeding to their place ; 
il faut avou-er, 1 want all my quicksilver to make such a 
background receive any other objects." 

The very poor were in nearly as bad a state, except that 
it was not their own fault. London and other cities had 
grown enormously during the last hundred years ; trades 
and manufactures had been constantly increasing, and had 
drawn more and more inhabitants into the towns and ports. 
Though the population had increased so greatly, the Church 
had not taken much notice, or exerted itself to do anything 
for the good of these crowds of people. Very few new- 
churches or schools were built; no one seemed to remember 
that what was enough for one thousand people was not 
enough for ten thousand. But the great towns were soon 
more than ten times as populous as they had been a hundred 
years before. The people grew ignorant, irreligious, and 
degraded: There were no Sunday schools and scarcely any 
day schools for the poor. Hardly any of them could read 
or write. Not long before this the custom of gin-drinking 
had come in. Before that they used to drink immense 
quantities of ale and beer. In his young days the celebrated 
Benjamin Franklin worked as a printer in an establishment 
in London, where about fifty men were employed. "The 



SLEEP AND WAKING. 529 

beer boy," he wrote afterwards, "had sufficient employment 

during 'the whole day in serving that house alone. My 
fellow pressman drank every clay a pint of beer before 
breakfast, a pint with bread and eheese for breakfast, one 
between breakfast and dinner, one at dinner, one again 
about six o'clock in the afternoon, and another after he had 
finished his day's work. This custom," Franklin concludes, 
"appeared to me to be abominable." It became a sort of 
passion with the people, and led, as it always does, to in- 
creased poverty, cruelty, and crime. 

The amusements were low, and brutal too; cock-fighting, 
bull-baiting, and other cruel sports were the delight of 
nearly all classes. There seemed a general coarseness and 
degradation, with but little care or feeling for anything 
higher. But some clergymen of the Church of 173g 
England, seeing how torpid and dead the higher Wesley and 
classes were, how brutal and sinful the others, set Whltefield - 
themselves to wake the dead to life again. The principal of 
them was John Wesley, a noble and saint-like man ; a man 
of high talent, ami a good scholar. His great helpers were 
his brother Charles, who was a scholar too, and wrote some 
of our best hymns, and Whitefield, also a clergyman, and 
the most eloquent preacher of his time. If Whitefield did 
not draw iron tears down Pluto's cheek, he did what was 
perhaps harder — he drew gold out of the purse of a hard- 
headed American philosopher, the above-mentioned Frank- 
lin, who had made up his mind to give none ; and carried 
Lord Chesterfield, the very type of a fine gentleman, so out 
of himself that he uttered an audible and excited exclama- 
tion in church.* 

* ''Franklin, strongly disapproving of the scheme of building an 
orphanage in Georgia, . . . determined not to support.it. 'I hap- 
pened soon after,' he tells us. 'to attend one of his sermons, in the 
course of which I perceived he intended to finish with a collection, and 
I silently resolved he should get nothing from me. I had in my 
pocket a handful of copper money, three or four silver dollars, and 
five pistols in gold. As he proceeded I began to soften, and concluded 
to give the copper. Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed 
of this, and determined me to give the silver, and he finished so admir- 
ably that I emptied my pocket wholly into the collector's dish, gold 
and all.' 

''On one occasion, when illustrating the peril of sinners, he de- 
scribed with such an admirable power an old blind man, deserted by 
his dog, tottering feebly over the desolate, moor, endeavoring in vain 
to feel his way with a staff, and gradually drawing nearer and near, r 



530 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Though some of the doctrines they taught were harsh, their 
hearts were tenderer than their doctrines. They were tilled 
with that glowing love for the unseen God, which lifts men 
up out of cold worldliness, and overflows into love and pity 
for man. The revival they brought about was like that of 
the old days, and the work of the Grey and the Black Brothers 
in the warmth of their first love. These men toiled unceas- 
ingly to save the lost and outcast. Their journeys, their 
toils', their preaching, their prayers, were incessant. They 
never meant to leave the Church ; all their desire was to 
breathe a new life into it ; and if the Church of England had 
been wise she would have welcomed them, as the Pope had 
done St. Francis. But the Church was at that time too re- 
spectable and conservative to put up with anything new, such 
as preaching and singing out of doors. 

It must be owned that there was some excuse for the re- 
luctance of the heads of the Church. The ignorant people 
grew so excited under the fiery preaching that they some- 
times fell into dreadful convulsions ; some went mad ; some 
died. They were very superstitious ; they saw visions; they 
dreamed dreams; they reverted to the old idea that God 
governed the world by perpetually interfering with the laws 
of nature, and were constantly telling of His miracles. Wes- 
ley himself, for example, gives the account of a girl who was 
always quite blind when she tried to read a Roman Catholic 
prayer-book, but could see plainly if she took up the -New 
Testament. 

They hated all amusements, even innocent ones, as much 
as William Langland and the Puritans. 

Many of these exaggerations were only a sort of first effer- 
vescence, and passed away. They did a wonderful work 
which has not passed away. Soon after, and greatly through 
their influence, the Church of England itself began to revive, 
and to see that though decorum, tranquillity, and order are 
excellent things, they are not the substance and aim of 
Christianity. A large number of the clergy, who were called 
in contempt by the honorable name of Evangelical, began to 
tread in the steps of Wesley, though not going to such ex- 



to the verge of a dizzy precipice, that when he arrived at the final 
catastrophe, no less a person than Lord Chesterfield lost all self-pos- 
session, and was heard audibly exclaiming, ' Good God ! lie is gone!' " 
— LecJa/s History of England in the Eighteenth Century. 



SLEEP AND WAKING. 531 

tremes. Some of the most earnest and noble-hearted of the 
laity joined them. Their doctrines, like Wesley's, were 
many of them hard and narrow, but, like his, their hearts 
were good. They and their friends and followers suggested 
most of the charitable works which sprang into life towards 
the end of the last century. 

After George IT. had slept with his fathers, and his grand- 
son, George III., was reigning in his stead, not only in the 
Church, however, but throughout the country, men's hearts 
seemed to grow larger and warmer. They cared more and 
more for their fellow-creatures, and had an ever-increasing 
pity for the weak and the suffering. " I was sick, and ye 
visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me," their 
Master had said. They longed that He should say that to 
them. Some went among the sick, and comforted them ; 
others penetrated into those dens of misery, the prisons. 
Some cared for the children, and drew them into schools. 
Sunday schools were first established in 1788. The children 
were very coarse and rough and dirty ; when a gentleman or 
lady tried to teach and help them, it perhaps seemed a very 
hard and repulsive work ; but as they saw how surprise and in- 
terest would kindle in their eyes, and warmth and sympathy 
would melt their wild young hearts, the teacher kindled and 
warmed too ; duty was turned into love. Missionary socie- 
ties, Bible societies, and other ways for helping mankind, 
were soon set on foot. The spirit was everywhere abroad, 
which led a poor woman to say, " Yes, I know we have 
given everything Ave can spare; but I want to give some- 
thing which we can't spare." 



CHAPTER LIV. 



THE ENGLISH GEORGE. 



George III. The American colonies. Policy of England. Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. The slave trade. Wilberforce. The younger Pitt. The French 
Revolution. 

George III. had the longest reign of any English sover- 
eign, and a remarkable reign it was. He was not a man of 
ability; but for the greater part of the sixty years he wore 
the crown of England lie was a very popular king. 
Georee°ilI P 00 !'' 6 wno remembered him always spoke of him 
with kindness and affection; as "dear old George 
III.," " good old King George," and yet we know he was 
dull, obstinate, blundering, undignified. One reason, doubt- 
less, for the love he inspired was that he was an English- 
man, and gloried in being so ; for the nation had never loved 
its German kings. " This sovereign," said Walpole, " don't 
stand in one spot, with his eyes fixed royally on the ground, 
and dropping bits of German news; he walks about, and 
speaks to everybody." But more than that, with all his 
defects he was a good man. He said he intended to intro- 
duce a new custom, " that of living well with all his family." 
Instead of deserting or slighting his wife, ami leading an 
immoral life, as the other two Georges had done, he was a 
good, true husband, a loving father, a sincere Christian. 
He loved his church and his Bible. He said he longed for 
every poor man in his dominion to be able to read his Bible 
and to have a Bible to read. He was honest, and if he was 
obstinate, it was because he always believed the things he 
wished were the right things. He was simple-minded and 
kind-hearted. He got up early and Avent to bed early, and 
lived a quiet, good, and religious life. In his later years he 
was sorely afflicted, for he grew blind and lost his reason. 

One of his greatest comforts in those sad times was sacred 
music, sometimes parts of Handel's beautiful oratorios. In 
one of the last lucid intervals he had, Thackeray relates that 



THE ENGLISH GEORGE. 533 

he was found by the queen " singing .1 hymn, and accom- 
panying himself on the harpsichord. When he had finished 
he knelt down and prayed aloud for her, and then for his 
family, and then for the nation, concluding- with a prayer for 
himself, that it might please God to avert his heavy calamity 
from him, but if not, to give him resignation to submit. He 
then burst into tears, and his reason again tied." 

George III. had been better educated than his father, and 
to the extent of his abilities was fond of literature and learned 
men. A love of books and of culture was more and more 
spread abroad. "Any man," says Dr. Johnson, 
" who wears a sword and a powdered wig," and fnd art 10n 
that meant in those days every gentleman, "is 
ashamed to be illiterate." It was George who gave Dr. 
Johnson his pension of three hundred pounds a year. 

He encouraged the founding of the Royal Academy of 
Arts. Though cultivated Englishmen had been 
fond of pictures and statues, they had always been 1768- 
obliged to buy them abroad, or to employ foreigners to paint 
them in England. There were now, however, English 
artists who might stand, and not be ashamed, beside the 
greatest of the foreigners. The first president of the Royal 
Academy was Sir Joshua Reynolds. He and his friend and 
rival, Gainsborough, though they could paint as perfectly as 
the best Italian artists, were generally content with painting 
portraits, or simple rural subjects.* What they saw they 
painted beautifully: those men with the powdered wigs; 
those lovely ladies, who look so stately and so innocent, year 
after year, on the walls of the Royal Academy. 

Towards the latter end of George's long reign, Turner, 
the greatest landscape painter whom England has ever 
known, was beginning to open the eyes of men to the infi- 
nite glory and majesty of earth, and sea, and sky. 

The greatest misfortune which happened to England dur- 
ing his reign was the loss of her American colonies ; and 
that misfortune, it is impossible to deny, was in l,,^ ft,h e 
great part due to King George's inveterate obsti- American 
nacy. The quarrel was caused by the tyranny of colomes - 
the mother country. Ever since the colonies had been 

* The student of this history who conies to study art afterward will 
see that this paragraph needs to he amplified and corrected to make it 
reasonably satisfactory. 



534 (lUE.ST's ENGLISH H1KT0EY. 

founded they had been greatly hampered in their manufac- 
tured and their trade by the selfishness of England. It was 
an established principle that the interests of all colonies and 
dependencies were to be subservient to those of England. 

If it was thought that any article which England produced 
or manufactured could be provided better or cheaper in a 
colony, the colonists, instead of being encouraged to make 
and sell it, were hindered in every possible way. For exam- 
ple, in America they had plenty of iron and of wool, more 
than they wanted for themselves, and which other countries 
would have been very glad of; but as the English also had 
wool and iron, the American colonies were not allowed to 
make theirs into useful things and sell them, because the 
English wished to maintain a monopoly of wool and iron in 
the markets of the world. 

The English treated Ireland in the same way, preventing 
the Irish from selling what they had. They were discour- 
aged from weaving either wool or linen. At one time they 
were forbidden to sell the meat, butter, and cheese which 
their green, fertile land produced in great abundance, even 
in England, lest people might buy from them instead of 
from English farmers. England, in fact, reminds one of 
Bottom in the play, who, not content with his own part, 
wants to act everybody else's part too. 

Statesmen and legislators had not yet begun to see that 
the more food and clothing and other useful things the earth 
produces, the better it is for all its inhabitants; and that if 
one country can produce one thing best, and another another, 
it is the wisest thing for them each to produce plenty, and to 
exchange with each other freely, instead of hindering and 
thwarting each other by jealousy. 

This selfish policy on 'the part of England alienated the 
hearts of the Americans, and helped on greatly in leading 
them to revolution. A still worse grievance was the taxa- 
tion. The colonies knew very well that a main principle of 
the English constitution is that no tax can be imposed with- 
out the consent of the people taxed ; that is to say, the con- 
sent of the representatives whom they choose to act and 
speak for them in Parliament. Now, the colonies had no 
one to speak for them in the English Parliament ; they sent 
no members there, but had representative assemblies of their 
own, which imposed their taxes and attended to local gov- 
ernment. The English government, being in great want of 



THE ENGLISH GEOUGE. 585 

money, attempted to tax the colonies. Many of the Ameri- 
cans were descended from the old Puritans, and were men 
of the same type as Pym and Hampden; they resisted, just 
:is their forefathers would have done. They declared that 
they would not pay taxes which were imposed by a Parlia- 
ment in which they were not represented. One of the colo- 
nists, who had taken a principal part in the military affairs 
of the country, and who afterwards rose to be gen- 
eral-in-chief of the army, was George Washington. W n Shing " 
He was a man whom Englishmen consider quite 
worthy to be placed beside Hampden ; he was brave, perse- 
vering, truthful, and magnanimous. In all his after life he 
never sought or accepted anything for himself ; all he thought 
of was justice for his country. He had, too, the clear eye of 
a commander, and knew how to march to his ends through 
trouble, and difficulty, and danger. 

At first the Americans had no wish to separate themselves 
from England; they only demanded " the rights and privi- 
leges which are essential to the happiness of ;every free 
state." Lord Chatham, as Pitt was now called, and the 
wisest of the king's other counsellors, advised him to give in, 
and said that the Americans were right. "We are told," 
said Lord Chatham, " America is obstinate ; America is in 
open rebellion ; I rejoice that America has resisted." But 
George, who had all the instincts of a despotic monarch, 
and who loved his own way as dearly as ever a Tudor or a 
Stuart had done, woidd not give in. It was firmly fixed in 
his mind that, if the Americans succeeded, all the other 
colonies would also be lost, and England would "reduce 
itself to a poor island indeed." He called the Americans 
rebels, and he called Lord Chatham's speech "a trumpet of 
sedition." He said that, if the English were resolute, the 
Americans would " undoubtedly be very meek." 

But the Americans were not meek at all, and they would 
not yield. One of the grievances had been about the im- 
portation of tea. The government had made a decree 
demanding a certain duty to be paid by the Americans on 
all the tea which they received from the mother country. 
The Americans, women as well as men, bound them- 
selves to drink no tea at all, sooner than pay that duty; and 
at last, when some English ships laden with tea 
arrived in Boston Harbor, a mob, disguised as In- 1773, 
dians, uttered a loud war-whoop, boarded the ships, and 



536 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

flung all tbe chests of tea into the sea. Not long after this 
(177G), independence was openly declared. The war lasted 

eight years, counting from the iirst conflict of arms, and in 
the end the colonies and their good cause conquered, and 
they were declared independent of the mother 
The Amer- country. When King George announced his con- 
ifiesde- " sent to ^is declaration, he said, very truly, that in 
claredin- giving it he had sacrificed every consideration of 
dependent. ^ Qwn ^ Q t j ie w j s ] les ;uu ] opinion f the people. 

He added a prayer that neither might Great Britain nor 
America suffer from their separation, and that "religion, 
language, interest, affections," might prove a bond of union 
between the two countries, — a prayer to which every year 
seems to bring a wider fulfilment. 

This was an inglorious page in the history of England. 
A very few years after the declaration of American inde- 
pendence a great work was begun which was as 
The slave muc h to the honor of the country. In 1787 a few 
wise and good men set themselves to make England 
worthy of being called free, and the champion of freedom, 
by abolishing the trade in negro slaves. The wickedness of 
trafficking in human flesh and blood had begun to 

1787, be realized by English Christians. The hideous cru- 
elties of the trade, the ghastly miseries and tortures endured 
by the kidnapped victims, added to the rising feeling. 

The charge of bringing the subject before Parliament was 
given to William Wilberforce, one of the brightest and most 
ardent of the evangelical laymen, who, we may almost say, 
gave his whole noble life to that cause. The last letter the 
venerable John Wesley ever wrote was to Wilberforce, 
encouraging him in his holy war. Among all his helpers in 
the long battle, the most eminent was William Pitt, who 
Th j rose to be the leading man in the kingdom. The 

William great Lord Chatham was dead, and his son William 
Pitt " inherited in large measure his talents and charac- 

ter. He, like his father, was noble in his ideas, proud of his 
country, proud of himself. He was prime minister of Eng- 
land when he was twenty-four years old. He made his first 
speech in Parliament when only twenty-one. There were 
splendid orators in the House of Commons in those days. 
One of them — Burke — was so astonished and delighted at 
the young man's speech, which reminded him of ins father, 
that he exclaimed, with tears of admiration, " It is not a chip 
of the old block: it is the old block itself." 



THE ENGLISH GEOKGE. 537 

Wilberforce has mentioned his conference on the subject 
of slavery with Pitt, who was his intimate friend. "I well 
remember," he writes, " after a conversation in the open air 
at the root of an old tree at Holwood, just above the steep 
descent into the vale of Keston, I resolved to give notice, 
on a lit occasion, in the House of Commons, of my intention 
to bring the subject forward." In the beautiful spot where 
those two friends sat there is now a stone seat, with an 
inscription, commemorating the conversation which led to 
such great results. The contest lasted for twenty years 
before Wilberforce and his allies succeeded in putting an 
end to the British trade in slaves. No more Africans could 
be torn from their homes, or sold in the market ; but it was 
more than twenty years longer before slavery itself lg33 
was abolished in all the colonies and dependencies Slavery 
of England. Not till then could it be boasted that abolished - 
the moment a slave sets foot on English soil he is free. In 
the very year that slavery was abolished William Wilber- 
force died. His heart was good to the last, and though his 
strength had failed, and his bright eye was dimmed, his 
interest in the cause never abated. It happened to be said 
in the old man's hearing, that "at this moment, probably, 
the debate on slavery is just commencing," when he sprung 
from his chair, and with his clear voice startled his sur- 
rounding friends by enthusiastically exclaiming, " Hear, 
hear, hear ! " 

Though England had lost a great part of her dominions 
in North America, she continued to extend her power in 
other lands. She gained more and more of India, and the 
whole island of Ceylon ; and she began to plant colonies in 
New Zealand, Australia, and Tasmania ; all these 
are sometimes very well called " Greater Britain." Britain 
Thus, though at the end of the many wars with 
France during all these reigns, both countries left off in 
Europe afoout as they had begun, neither of them being 
much larger or smaller; yet, on the whole, looking at the 
map of the world, England had grown enormously, while 
France had scarcely grown at all. France has gained by 
annexation, and attaching to her the j)eople she annexes ; 
but the French people do not succeed at colonizing, or 
taking root in other lands, as do those of the English race. 

Soon another and very serious war broke out with France. 
That country was now in a deplorable state. The king and 



538 QUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the aristocracy had long had their own way: the trading 
classes and the peasantry were oppressed; the nobles were 
proud and cruel; the court was careless and extravagant; 
while the poor were ground down to the earth. The clergy 
and the nobles paid no taxes; the support of the government 
was extorted from the miserable, starving peasants. The 
state of the French people was described in few words, half 
pitiful, half contemptuous, — "slavery, and wooden shoes." 

The very centre and symbol of oppression was the Bastile, 
a great prison fortress in Paris. The king could imprison 
anyone lie chose in its strong and gloomy dungeons without- 
trial and without even telling the victim what was his 
offence. A sealed letter from the king was enough to tear 
an innocent man from his home and happiness, and bury him 
alive. The nobles could easily get those sealed letters, and 
so rid themselves of anyone who stood in their way. The 
English, strong in their own liberty, looked on witli wonder- 
ing indignation. Cowper, the gentlest of Christian poets, 
wrote thus of the Bastile : — 

1785. " Ye horrid towers, the abode of broken hearts, 
Ye dungeons and ye cages of despair, 

There's not an English heart that would not leap 
To hear that ye were fallen.*' . . . 

At last the French nation would bear it no longer, and 
the great Revolution began. Four years after Cowper's 
lines were written the Bastile was stormed, and of 
The French those "dungeons and cages of despair" not one 
Revolution. s ^ one was } e ft upon another. ITow could England 
but rejoice when she saw France striving to obtain what she 
herself had so long enjoyed, — liberty, justice, and protection 
for rich and poor? 

The example of America and the teaching of French phi- 
losophers had awakened a new spirit of humanity. The 
young poets of England thought the Golden Age 
T fF fe< ] lin f was coming, that henceforth all would be brothers, 
ng . ^y or ^ swor j i } 1) w jj wag living in France when the 
Revolution broke out, threw himself heart and soul into the 
cause, and indeed narrowly escaped being massacred. Cole- 
ridge burst out into glorious song. 

" O ye loud waves! and O ye forests high! 
And O ye clouds that far above me soared ! 
Thou rising sun! thou blue rejoicing sky! 



THE ENGLISH GEORGE. 539 

Yea, everything that is and will be free ! 
Bear witness for me, wheresoe'er ye be, 
With what deep worship I have still adored 
The spirit of divinest liberty. 

"When France in wrath her giant limbs npreared. 
And with that oath which smote air, earth, and sea, 
Stamped her strong foot, and said she would be free, 
Bear witness for me how I hoped and feared." 

A preacher in London, carried away with joy, after thanking 
God that he had lived to see it, exclaimed, "I coidd almost 
say, 'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, 
for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.'" The statesmen of 
England felt a like thrill of generous sympathy. 

Pitt, who was now the foremost man in England, hoped 
great things from the Revolution ; he expected to see 
France stand forth "as one of the most brilliant 
of European powers." Of the few who could ap- ^ and 
proach him in genius and eloquence, the most nota- 
ble were Fox and Burke. Fox was one of the most gener- 
ous, affectionate, and noble-hearted of men. His private 
life, in his young days at least, was full of faults, and yet 
everybody loved him. His whole soul overflowed with pity 
for human sorrow, and hatred of cruelty and oppression. 
When the Revolution began he cried enthusiastically, "How 
much is it the greatest event that ever happened in the 
world, and how much the best I' 1 

But after a year or two the French became maddened, and 
committed such awful crimes that the English were horrified. 
The French king and queen, who in a vagne way 17q2 
meant well, but were quite helpless, in the face of 
a wild and raging nation, were drawn into the torrent and 
pat to death. Innumerable rjeojde, many of them perfectly 
innocent, were massacred. 

England began to shrink back. Burke, whose name was 
known through Europ'e as the champion of freedom and 
justice, was appalled. He at first gazed with 
astonishment at the struggle, hardly knowing 
whether to praise or blame. But he drew back aghast 
before all this brutality and savagery. The fate of the 
queen stirred his whole heart. He had seen her years' 
before, when she first came to France, a beautiful young girl. 
"I saw her," he wrote, "just above the horizon, glittering 
like the morning star, full of life and splendor and joy. . . . 



540 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

I thought ten thousand swords would have leaped from their 
scabbards to avenge even a lock that threatened her with in- 
sult." lie saw in her fall the fall of " chivalry." In a sense 
lie no doubt saw truly. That fatal Haw in chivalry which we 
noticed centuries ago in its palmy days, the sharp separation 
of classes, the horior to "ladies and gentlemen,' 1 the scorn of 
the poor, had gone on widening till the great crash came. 
"Never, never more," said Burke, "shall we behold that 
generous loyalty to rank and sex, that proud submission, that 
dignified obedience, that subordination of the heart, which 
kept alive even in servitude the spirit of an exalted freedom. 
The unbought grace of life, the cheap defence of nations, the 
nurse of manly sentiment and heroic enterprise is gone. . . . 
Their liberty is not liberal. Their science is presumptuous 
ignorance. Their humanity is savage and brutal. 1 ' 

Perhaps chivalry was not really dead, hut was soon to be- 
gin a higher and a wider life. Reverence for rank and birth 
might be abating, but surely a nobler and more manly rever- 
ence was arising. If, as Burke complained, "on this scheme 
of things a king is hut a man, 11 the new chivalry would see 
something to honor in every man; if "a queen is hut a 
woman, 11 the new chivalry would render homage to every 
woman. In every man and every woman, the poorest and 
the weakest, would be seen the trace of "the image of God." 

Some such hopes might have been in the minds of the 
French and of those who sympathized with them, but the 
terrible course which events took as the Revolution pro- 
gressed soon smothered them all. Some of the lower and 
discontented people in England were still inclined to side 
with France, hut they were put down and kept down by the 
Strong hand. The upper classes, the middle classes, in fact. 
almost all the people of England, were indignant and 
alarmed. The French Revolutionists, on their part, wanted 
to force their principles on all the world, and invited all 
nations to rise against their governments, and so England 
and France were soon at war again.* Pitt hoped 
War ' for peace to the last, hut it could not be; the two 
declared, countries were each longing for the combat, and 
though France actually declared war, England was only too 
eager to accept it. 

* This is scarcely a fair statement . but the truth cannot be expressed 
in a sentence. The student will need to read Carlyle's French Revo- 
lution. 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE LAST WAR WITH FRANCE. 

The English sailors. Nelson. The Battle of Trafalgar. Napoleon Bonaparte. 
The Duke of Wellington. The Peninsular War. Waterloo. 

Pitt remained at the head of the ministry, but he did not 
know how to manage a war. Things went on very ill ; the 
allies of England were not to be depended upon, and there 
was general discontent. It was only on the sea that Eng- 
land was successful. The English navy was the pride of the 
nation, and it was worthy of its old fame. The sailors 
indeed were very hardly treated. In those days men were 
pressed, or seized by force, to serve on the ships; but this 
custom has long been done away with, and in England, 
unlike the other countries of Europe, no man is forced to 
be either soldier or sailor against Ins will. At that time the 
English sailors had many grievances, and more than once they 
mutinied very seriously for better pay and better treatment. 

But when they were in the face of the enemy they showed 
their gallant English hearts. The most famous of 
the English naval commanders was Lord Nelson, Nelson - 
Avho won the two great battles of the Nile and Trafalgar. 
He had a bold, dauntless spirit from his infancy. He was as 
kind as he was brave. In the Battle of the Nile 
he was wounded, and carried off the deck to be Battle'of 
attended to. The surgeon left a sailor whose the Nlle - 
wounds he was dressing, and turned to the admiral. But 
"No," said Nelson, "twill take my turn with my brave 
fellows." 

His last great victory saved England from the fear of a 
French invasion. They had planned to cross over the 
Straits, and had collected a great army of a hundred thou- 
sand men at Boulogne. Three hundred thousand lg05 
English volunteers sprang up to defend their native Battle of 
land, and while the French were waiting for their Trafal e ar - 
fleet to come and protect the army as it crossed, Nelson 

541 



542 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

attacked it at Trafalgar, destroyed the power of France on 
the sea, and put an end to all fear of invasion. 

One of Nelson's heroic officers, Collingwood, was gentle 
and generous as well as brave. "As one reads of him and 
his great comrade going into the victory with which their 
names are immortally connected," says Thackeray, " how 
the old English feeling comes up of what I should like to 
call Christian honor! What gentlemen they were! what 
great hearts they had! 'We can, my dear Coll,' writes 
Nelson to him, 'have no little jealousies; we have only one 
great object in view — that of meeting the enemy and get- 
ting a glorious peace for our country.' In the beginning of 
the battle, as Collingwood's ship was pressing alone into the 
midst of the enemy, Lord Nelson said to an officer near, 
'See how that noble fellow Collingwood takes his ship into 
action; how I envy him!' The very same throb and im- 
pulse of heroic generosity was beating in Collingwood's 
honest bosom. As he led into the fight, he said, ' What 
would Nelson give to be here ! ' " 

The second ship in Nelson's line was the "Fighting Tem- 
eraire." The glory and the fate of that ship have been 
written by Raskin, and painted by Turner. When the fast- 
sailing " Victory," with Nelson on board, " drew upon her- 
self all the enemy's fire," writes Raskin, "the Temeraire 
tried to pass her, to take it in her stead, but Nelson himself 
hailed her to keep astern. The Temeraire cut away her 
studding sails, and held back, receiving the enemy's fire into 
her bows without returning a shot. Two hours later she 
lay with a French seventy-four gun ship on each side of her, 
both her prizes, one lashed to her mainmast and one to her 
anchor. . . . Surely if ever anything without a soul deserved 
honor and affection we owed them here." 

The greatest painter whom England has ever produced 
saw that stately and beautiful ship "tugged to her last 
berth," and it may be seen on the walls of the National 
Gallery in one of the most perfect and pathetic pictures he 
ever painted. 

Nelson had given his famous signal, which was repeated 
through the fleet, " England expects every man to do his 
duty." As he stood on deck, watching and directing, he 
fell mortally wounded, and the joy and pride of England 
were darkened. This victory was the last bright gleam of 
success in Pitt's career. An alliance or coalition which he 



THE LAST WAR WITH PRANCE. 543 

had formed with Austria and Russia had failed. The French 
had won two great victories at Ulm and Austerlitz, and 
Pitt's heart was broken. As he lay dying, he ex- lg06 
claimed, with a much clearer voice than usual, and Death' of 
in a tone which was long remembered, " Oh, my 
country ! how I leave my country ! " From that time he 
never spoke or moved. He died in the prime of life, only 
forty-six years old. 

After the execution of the king a republic had been pro- 
claimed in France, and it was decided that there should be 
no more kings or royal families. With royalty, religion, 
order, and everything else were swept away. One faction 
after another came into power, each one putting its oppo- 
nents, or even its lukewarm supporters, to death. For a 
time things were in so dreadful a condition that it was called 
the "Reign of Terror," at the head of which was Robes- 
pierre. This horrible rule, or misrule, could not last ; and 
it happened in France somewhat as it had happened in Eng- 
land after the execution of Charles I., and as it often happens 
Avhen a tyrannical government is overthrown, that it fell 
into the hands of a bold and fortunate soldier. 

The most distinguished soldier in France was Napoleon 
Bonaparte, w r ho had shown his ability on various 
occasions, and who by his wonderful talents and nJi&va.rte 
successes soon became the head of the army. 
Though for a long time he was the idol of the French 
nation, he was not a native Frenchman, but an Italian from 
Corsica, an island which France had annexed. 

From being head of the army he became head of the 
nation ; first he was called first consul, in imitation of the 
Roman republic, and afterwards emperor. He soon lg04 
put an end to the tumults, cruelties, and disorders, He is called 
restored the Christian religion, and promulgated a em P eror - 
body of laws after the manner of the Roman code of Justin- 
ian, which are called the Code Napoleon. Thus France 
was the gainer for the time, although he was quite as des- 
potic as Cromwell had been. But while Cromwell had been 
satisfied to make the name of England honorable in the 
eyes of Europe, Napoleon was not content to do the same 
for France. Nothing would suffice him but being master of 
all Europe. He very nearly succeeded. 

For fifteen years he set up kings and put them down at 
his pleasure. He took possession of the Netherlands, of a 



544 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

great part of Italy, and of Germany. He set up his 
brothers, or his generals, who were dependent on him, as 
kings in Spain, Naples, Holland, and Sweden, so that these 
became only vassal states to Fiance. Most of those that 
remained were so weak as to offer no resistance. 

The only free country Avhich remained was England ; and 
it was because Bonaparte saw that if England fell all liberty 
would fall with her, that he became her enemy. England, 
in return, hated him with an intense hatred. There were 
about fifteen millions of inhabitants in England and forty 
millions in France. Napoleon said that fifteen millions must 
give way to forty. But the little island manfully confronted 
him, and finally formed a combination which ended his ca- 
reer. 

Though the English navy had been victorious in many 
engagements, the armies had at first been less successful. 
But as Xapoleon was rising to eminence in the 
Wellesley French army, another young officer of just the 
Duke of same age was rising to eminence in the English — 
s 'Arthur Wellesley, known now as the Duke of Wel- 
lington. He had begun by distinguishing himself in India ; 
when he came back to Europe he showed that he could cope 
with the great marshals of France. (He and Xapoleon met 
for the first and last time at Waterloo.) His first European 
campaign was in Spain, whither he Avas sent to assist in 
driving out the French, who had once more tried to make 
good the boast of Louis XIV., " There are no more Pyre- 
nees." 

This, which is called the Peninsular War, went on for six 
years; and though Xapoleon was not there, some of his 
best generals, who were nearly equal to himself, were in 
command of the French troops. Wellington, aided by the 
Spaniards as far as they were able, gained many great vic- 
tories and stormed some important towns, driving the French 
step by step before him, and at last forcing them out of the 
country. Then Wellington might have said on his 

1 ' part, " There are no Pyrenees." He followed the 
retreating enemy into their own laud, and defeated them 
once more at Toulouse. 

Xapoleon forced a war upon Russia, which he had hitherto 
left alone. He was so determined to ruin England that he had 
tried to hinder other nations from trading with her, and 
amongst others Russia; but as it would have injured the 



THE LAST WAR WITH FRANCE. 545 

Russians as well as the English to stop their commerce, they 
would not agree to it. That and some other provocations 
drew Russia into the Avar, and Napoleon determined to in- 
vade the country with an immense army. This was the turn 
of the tide. It was an expedition which involved great hard* 
ships and suffering, and cost thousands of lives. The severe 
climate of Russia did the French armies more harm than 
the people did, though they were brave as heroes in defence 
of their country. They even burned down their ancient 
city Moscow, to leave no refuge or protection for the invad- 
ers. The French soldiers were almost entirely destroyed by 
cold and starvation in their long retreat. 

The people of Germany, Austria, and Sweden were begin- 
ning to lift their heads again, and to join together against 
the common enemy. And when Wellington and the Eng- 
lish entered France from the south, and their allies B 
entered it from the north, and marched into Paris, retires to 
Bonaparte had to withdraw. He resigned his em- Elba " 
pire, and retired to the island of Elba, which, of his vast 
dominions, was all he was allowed to keep. 

He did not stay there long ; the very next year he came 
back to France. The army which he had so often led to vic- 
tory, which adored and was devoted to him, received him 
with open arms, and it seemed as if he would soon be as 
powerful as ever again. But the English and their allies 
were resolved his tyranny should afflict the world no more. 
A great English army under the Duke of "Welling- „ _ 
ton entered the Netherlands. A Prussian force Battle of 
under Marshal Bliicher * was sent to join him. WaterIo °- 
Wellington had come to be called the Iron Duke ; Bliicher 
was known by his soldiers as Marshal Yorwarts. The Eng- 
lish encamped at Waterloo. 

Napoleon was in high spirits, and felt sure he was going 
to beat the English. It was a long battle — the greater part 
of a summer's day. The Prussians had not arrived, and 
could not arrive before evening. In the midst of the battle 
Napoleon thought he saw the English beginning to retreat ; 
he sent off a messenger to Paris to say the field was won. 
Perhaps it was after that that he said^ " These English do 
not know when they are beaten ; according to all the rules 
of war they were beaten long ago, and yet they are fighting 

* Pronounced Bleeker. 



546 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOKY. 

still." The principal conflict was between the French cav- 
alry and the English infantry. The description of it reminds 
ns of Wallace and the Battle of Falkirk, so many hundred 
years ago. It will be remembered that he first taught the 
men who fought on foot to stand against the proud knights 
on horseback. He formed his men in solid squares, the 
front ranks kneeling with projecting spears like a bristling 
and solid hedge; the archers inside with their arrows and long- 
bows. Wellington formed his infantry on the same plan. 

There were thirteen squares; instead of archers in the 
middle they had cannon. The French cavalry, the cuiras- 
siers, "twelve thousand strong," writes the historian Alison, 
" in great part clad in glittering armor, streamed up the 
slope in front of the English line, and with loud cries and 
unparalleled enthusiasm threw themselves on the squares." 
The infantry remained immovable ; they seemed rooted in 
the earth. The first rank, kneeling down, received the cui- 
rassiers on their bayonets ; the second rank fired on them ; 
behind the second rank the gunners loaded their cannon ; 
the front of the square opened, a volley of grape-shot poured 
out, and the square closed again. The French poet, Victor 
Hugo, gives us his idea of the scene. " These squares were 
no longer battalions, they were craters; these cuirassiers 
were no longer cavalry, they were a tempest. Each square 
was a volcano attacked by a storm-cloud. It was lava fight- 
ing against thunder." In the midst of it Wellington said 
to one of those unflinching regiments, " Stand fast, 95th ; we 
must not be beat; what would they say of us in England?" 
" Never fear, sir," they replied ; " we know our duty." 

The hours went on, and still the Prussians did not come. 
At last Napoleon sent up his Old Guard, the Imperial Guard 
that had never been beaten. Up the hill they came, as if 
nothing on earth could resist them ; they drove back the 
line of English guns. But Wellington had a reserve also — 
the Foot Guards, which had not fought yet, and it was now 
evening. They had chafed and longed to join in the battle ; 
but they had had to wait. The French did not know they 
were there; they 'were lying down, four deep, hidden in a 
ditch. At last the moment came, and Wellington shouted, 
"Up, Guards, and at them."* They rose and went forward. 

* Like many celebrated sayings, this is of doubtful authenticity. 
Wellington said afterwards that he did not think he could have given 
the order in those words. — Ed, 



THE LAST WAB WITH FRANCE. 547 

From that moment the battle was decided. The French 
Guards, fighting gallantly, began to give way. The English 
Guards slowly, irresistibly came forward, pushing the mass 
of French before them. 

The Prussian aid arrived at last ; and now the men of 
those immovable squares saw the duke ride to the front, 
wave his hat in the air, and order them forward. " With 
joyful step the whole line pressed forward as one man at the 
command of their chief, and the last rays of the sun gleamed 
on fifty thousand men, who, with a shout which caused the 
very earth to shake, streamed over the summit of the hill. 
The French, who had believed that the British infantry was 
wholly destroyed, . . . were thunderstruck when they be- 
held this immense body advance majestically in line, driving 
before them the last column of the Imperial Guard. . . . 
Despair now seized upon the French soldiers ; they saw at 
once that all was lost, and horse, foot, and cannon, breaking 
their ranks, fled tumultuously." 

At last Napoleon himself fled also. But his brave old 
guard would not fly ; they formed themselves into four 
strong squares and stood firm. It was all in vain ; they were 
pierced through and through, cut down or made prisoners. 
There was never a more utter defeat. 

Napoleon could do no more ; he yielded himself up to the 
English, who sent him to St. Helena, a solitary island in the 
Atlantic, where he died at last, having done no more injury 
to the world. 

Whilst this grand fight was being fought at Waterloo, the 
people of England were at church. It was Sunday, the eigh- 
teenth day of June. Old people used to tell, not long ago, 
how everyone noticed the psalms read on that day, the nine- 
tieth, ninety-first, and ninety-second: "Lord, Thou hast been 
our refuge from one generation to another. ... A thousand 
shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand ; 
but it shall not come nigh thee. . . . It is a good thing to 
give thanks unto the Lord, and to praise Thy name, O most 
High!" • 

That was the last, as well as the greatest, of our great 
battles with France. It was a long time before they could 
forgive it. For many years they still hoped to avenge 
Waterloo. For many years Englishmen and Frenchmen 
looked on each other as natural enemies. But the anger 
and the pride and the jealousy have died away now, and the 



548 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

two countries, so near to each other, and having had so 
much to do with one another through all these centuries, 
are now warm friends, and from their hearts wish each other 
well. In the only great European war England has had 
anything to do with since that time, the French and the 
English stood side by side as trusty allies. 



With the end of this chapter the work of Guest is finished; except 
that the "Conclusion," p. 5S8, is mostly from his pen. Chapters 
LVL, LVIL, and LVIII. are wholly by the editor. 



CHAPTER LVI. 

GEORGE IV. AND WILLIAM IV. 

A King in name only. The trial of Queen Caroline. Reforms advocated. 
Catbolic Emancipation. Accession of William IV. Daniel O'Connell, and 
the Wrongs of Ireland. 

George III. died at Windsor Castle, Jan. 29, 1820, in 
his eighty-second year: but his reign had been virtually 
closed nine years before. He had become incapaci- The 
tated by attacks of insanity, intermittent at first, Regency, 
but afterward deepening into settled gloom. His eldest son, 
afterward George IV., was constituted regent Feb. 5, 1811, 
and was the nominal head of the nation in a time when 
the most momentous interests were at stake. 

Between 1811 and 1820 there was a succession of thrilling- 
events. Not only England, but the whole of Europe, was 
skaken as by earthquakes. Wellington fought his Great 
great battles with the French in the Spanish Penin- f^/^i t h e 
sula, while England at the same time was at war Regency, 
with the United States. Napoleon invaded Russia, and sac- 
rificed another great army in a fruitless attack and a disas- 
trous retreat. Paris surrendered to the allied armies of 
Europe ; and Napoleon, having abdicated the throne, retired 
to Elba. The war with the United States, carried on with 
little spirit or renown on either side, except in a few naval 
combats, but signalized by the disgraceful burning of Wash- 
ington by a British army, came to a close by the Treaty of 
Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814. Then came the Hundred Days after 
the return of the emperor from Elba, while all the world 
beheld the struggle between France and the Great Powers 
which culminated in the victory of Waterloo and in the final 
overthrow and banishment of Napoleon. 

During all this time, the position of England was promi- 
nent among the nations of Europe in resisting and abolishing 

549 



550 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOBY. 

the French dynasty and the new kings to whom Napoleon 
had parcelled out his conquests. This prominence was due 

partly to the wealth and commercial importance 
The Regent f ^] ie i s ] an <i 5 s tiH more to the capacity and vigor of 

the British ministers and to the military genius of 
Wellington, but not in the least to the character and abilities 
of the regent. The fourth George had been a reckless and 
dissipated youth, and he was unchanged by experience or by 
the weight of official cares. He was never able to do more 
than fill with a certain propriety the place marked for him 
by his constitutional advisers. 

Throughout his life George IV. was devoted to the pur- 
suit of pleasure, and, aside from the negative virtue of good- 
nature, was distinguished for no good quality of mind or 
Habits. heart. He is, perhaps, one of the most despicable 
Marriages, persons in modern history. In the year 1785, when 
he was Prince of Wales, about twenty-three years of age, 
he was privately married to a Mrs. Fitzherbert; but as the 
lady was a Roman Catholic, and as the marriage was without 
the king's consent, it was void under the English statutes. 
In 1795 he married his cousin, Caroline of Brunswick; but 
after the birth of their child, the Princess Charlotte, they 
separated. Subsequently George endeavored to procure a 
divorce, and the proceedings had all the interest of a state 
trial. In the beginning, the Whigs sided with the regent, 
and the Tories gathered around the princess, who was 
warmly protected by the king, her father-in-law. The old 
king knew and thoroughly hated his profligate son. 

Upon the accession of George IV., the proceedings 
Th t ' 1 a g a hist Queen Caroline were revived, and were 
of the pushed with all the power which an unscrupulous 
Queen. kirig could command. The accusations against her 
were laid before Parliament, and were first taken up by the 
House of Lords. The senior counsel of the queen was 
Henry Brougham, afterward lord chancellor. For months the 
public interest was centred in this trial, to the exclusion of 
every other matter. The conduct of the case by Brougham 
was masterly. His speeches were bold, defiant, and thun- 
derous in tone, and they are ranked among the best 
specimens of eloquence in modern times. The vote of the 
Lords was against the queen, but by a majority so small 
that the ministers announced there would be no further legal 
proceedings against her. She refused to retire with her 



GEORGE IV. AND WILLIAM IV. 551 

pension to the Continent, and on the day of her husband's 
coronation she attempted to enter Westminster Abbey, but 
she was repulsed from every entrance. This was the 19th 
of July, 1821, and on the 7th of August she expired. 

Napoleon, who had been kept a prisoner by the British on 
the island of St. Helena, died May 5, 1821. There was a 
general sense of relief when this ambitious and rest- 
less spirit passed away. The English people were Ti ^ r of 
thoroughly tired of war, and supported heartily 
statesmen like Canning, who were devoted to the policy of 
oeace and of liberal ideas. Sydney Smith humorously ex- 
pressed this desire in a letter to the Countess Gray : " I am 
worn down and worn out with crusading, and defending 
Europe, and protecting mankind. I must think a little of 
myself. I am sorry for the Spaniards ; I am sorry for the 
Greeks; I deplore the fate of the Jews; the people of the 
Sandwich Islands are groaning under the most detestable 
tyranny ; Bagdad is oppressed ; I do not like the present 
state of the Delta ; Thibet is not comfortable. Am I to 
fight for all these people ? The world is bursting with sin 
and sorrow. Am I to be the champion of the Decalogue, 
and to be eternally raising fleets and armies to make all men 
good and happy? 

This is a fair satire upon the meddlesome part which Eng- 
land had long been playing in European politics, while her 
national debt was rising to portentous figures, and her in- 
ternal improvements were almost at a standstill. 

The attention of enlightened and humane statesmen was 
directed to various evils and abuses, and discussions begun 
which in time produced the most important results. Among 
these evils were negro slavery, civil disabilities of 
the Catholics, the corn laws, illiteracy, and the ex- e orms ' 
cessive penalties for crimes. The corn laws made bread 
dear in time of scarcity by preventing the importation of 
foreign grain. The bill to permit Catholic peers to sit in 
the House of Lords was successful in passing the Commons, 
but was rejected by the Lords. The question of negro 
slavery was introduced (1823) by Thomas Fowell Buxton, 
in a resolution which looked to its gradual abolition. This 
measure was supported by Brougham and Wilbei'force. 
The reform of the criminal code was pressed by Samuel 
Komilly, and imprisonment substituted for death in cases of 
larceny. Great efforts were made for the diffusion of edu- 



552 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

cation by establishing schools and by providing useful books 
at low ]:>rices. This movement came largely from the efforts 
of Brougham. The same great lawyer brought in a bill for 
the reform of the Court of Chancery, a measure which was 
ultimately carried. 

The great and general prosperity of the country received 
a sudden check in the hitter part of the year 1825. There 
was a degree of distrust which put an end to business. It 
was at that time the word "panic" was first em- 
ployed to signify the unreasoning want of confi- 
dence which prevails in a monetary crisis. In the manu- 
facturing districts the discontent took the form of breaking 
power-looms and other labor-saving machinery. 

Representatives of the English, French, and Russian gov- 
ernments had remonstrated with Turkey on account of its 
cruel and devastating warfare upon Greece, and 

vo^;2« the allied fleets were anchored off Navarino. The 
Navanno. — , . , t r* ■ n ■ ^ • 

Turkish and Egyptian fleets were within range. 

From a slight fire of musketry upon an English boat the 

engagement became general, and in the course of four hours 

nearly one half of the Turkish and Egyptian vessels were 

burned, sunk, or driven on shore. 

The disabilities of the Catholics were finally removed in 
1829, after a most violent struggle on the part of the ex- 
-,... treme Anglican Church party and other conser- 
emancipa- vatives, or whom the chief was Lord Eldon. 1 he 
tlon * king was also strongly opposed to the enfranchise- 

ment ; and it was not until after the resignation of the entire 
cabinet, headed by the Duke of Wellington, and after it 
was evident that no cabinet could stand, except in accord- 
ance with the opinion of the House of Commons on this 
question, that the king was forced to give his assent to 
the bill. 

In the latter part of May, 1830, the illness of the king 
was announced, and on the 26th of June he expired at 
Windsor Castle. As George IV. left no legal heirs, and as 
the Duke of York, his brother next younger, had died in 

. _ 1828, the crown devolved upon the Duke of Clai - - 

1 iam ' ence, third son of George III., who was in his sixty- 
fifth year at the time of his accession as William IV. The 
nation was pleased to call him " the sailor king," as he had 
served in the navy from boyhood, but he was not a great 
naval commander; he was a dull and bigoted conservative 



GEORGE IV. AND WILLIAM IV. 553 

while in the House of Lords, and was a very commonplace 
king. 

All local interests were swallowed up shortly afterward 
by the outbreak of a revolution in France. Charles X., 
whose exclusive policy and reactionary doctrines Frenc jj 
made him extremely unpopular, was driven out with Revolution 
violence, and made his escape to England. The of 8 ' 
Duke of Orleans, descended from Louis XIV. and the an- 
cient kings by a collateral line, was crowned, not as king of 
France, but as king of the French, indicating that he was 
called by the people to rule, and not that he assumed the rank 
by right of birth. This change of rulers and of opinions had 
a powerful influence upon English politics, and was the 
means of bringing the liberal Whigs to power, by whom 
Parliament was reformed and the corn laws repealed, in 
spite of the king. 

Another event which takes less space in the annals de- 
serves special attention. The Liverpool and Manchester 
Railway was incorporated (1830), and carriages for 
passengers and goods were first drawn by steam i OC omotTon. 
locomotives. The bill encountered the most" power- 
ful opposition. This was the chief beginning of the era of 
scientific progress in which we live, and was an event more 
important in its results than any in modern times, excepting 
the invention of printing and the discovery of the Western 
Continent. 

The bill for the reform of Parliament had many vicissi- 
tudes, and for two years the subject engrossed the whole 
attention of the public. The anomalies and inequalities of 
representation in the House of Commons were many and 
glaring. Many important cities and towns had no 
representation, while obscure hamlets and boroughs, parliament 
that were the private property of peers, continued 
to send members. These inequalities were not denied, but 
the conservatives, with the Duke of Wellington at their 
head, and with the approval of the whole bench of bishops, 
declared that the continuance of the English govei'nment 
with king, Lords, and Commons, was incompatible with 
the election of the lower branch according to numerical 01 
democratic theories. 

The reformers were several times beaten, but with every 
appeal to the country their numbers in Parliament increased. 
At last the bill passed, and was carried to the House of 



554 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Lords, where it was rejected by a majority of forty-one 
votes. At the next session (1831) a new bill, based on 
surer statistics of population, was introduced by Lord John 
Russell, and passed the House by a large majority; but it 
was decisively rejected by the peers. The ministry then 
resigned, and the king, finding he could not make up a 
cabinet, sent for Lords Brougham and Grey to confer with 
him. They requested the king to create a sufficient number 
of liberal peers to overcome the majority in the House of 
Lords against the reform bill. Very reluctantly the king 
gave the authority asked for in writing ; thereupon the con- 
servative peers, rather than see their chamber swamped by 
the incoming of so many parvenus, allowed the bill to pass. 
The Duke of Wellington and others like him remained 
away from the chamber when the vote was to be taken. 

It was a wise measure of pacification, for the popular 
tumults throughout the kingdom were full of danger to 
life and property, and social revolutions never go back- 
ward. 

The question of slavery in the British colonies was again 
brought up, and, after a long discussion, a bill for its aboli- 
tion was passed both Houses and received the 
y ' royal assent. The bill appropriated twenty mil- 
lion pounds for the compensation of the owners, and went 
into effect Aug. 1, 1834. 

Few matters of public interest are to be recorded for the 
remainder of this reign. The charter of the East India 
Company was amended, and the constitution of the Bank of 
England was remodelled. An attempt was made to regu- 
late the hours of labor of children in factories, and to secure 
their attendance at school. An act was passed to amend 
the poor laws. 

It was in this reign that Daniel O'Connell, the Irish orator, 
came prominently before the public. His efforts and those 
of his party were directed to the repeal of the act 
frdamL ° f °^ un * on whereby Ireland lost its separate Parlia- 
ment. The compact body of Irish sympathizers 
formed a third party, and pursued tactics similar to those 
which the adherents of Parnell have followed in our times. 
The discussion in Parliament, under various leaders with the 
same end in view, has continued to this day. 

The Houses of Parliament were destroyed by fire Oct. 
16, 1834. 



GEORGE IV. AND WILLIAM IV. 555 

The leanings of the king were wholly and unreservedly 
toward the Tories, and for several years he seemed to be 
setting up cabinet ministers, like tenpins, to be bowled down 
by the commons. A resolution in favor of some needed 
reform would pass the House by a solid majority, and be 
thrown out by the Lords ; whereupon the ministers would 
resign, and the unhappy king would have to make a new 
selection. It was the fate of the conservators of ancient 
abuses in England to learn that nothing is really settled in 
this world until it is based upon justice. 

The great reform measure of 1835 was the act concerning 
municipal corporations. The various towns and cities of 
England were managed under special charters, wholly differ- 
ent in principle and action. In some instances the 
mode of taxation was wholly irregular. Certain j^f" r i £ 1 ipal 
classes had inherited " rights," such as the exclusive 
trade in corporate limits. And, besides the substantial 
injustice which was a bar to true prosperity, there were 
antique ceremonies and pageants, which consumed the public 
funds, needed far more for schools and other uses. Magis- 
trates and aldermen were dressed on public occasions in 
scarlet and fur, wearing gold chains, and were preceded by 
the pomp of beadles and mace-bearers. The Municipal 
Reform Bill placed the government of the cities and towns in 
the hands of the citizens themselves. The Tories shrieked 
at the overthrow of "vested rights," and prophesied the 
downfall of the ancient principles of the government. 

One city, London, was exempted from the operation of 
the bill ; and that tremendous problem, the government of 
over four millions of people by representative coxincils and 
boards, remains to be put in solution. The Lord Mayor of 
London is still inaugurated with pageants and shows bor- 
rowed from the middle ages, while his authority extends 
over only about a fortieth of the population of the over- 
grown city. 

Heretofore a prisoner on trial for life or liberty might 
address the court or jury in his own behalf, but could not 
be heard by counsel. It will seem strange to 
modern readers that the right so obvious and so tria?s nal 
important to an accused person as that of having 
a learned advocate should be of such recent origin (1836). 
The executions and imprisonments of innocent men en- 
snared by the meshes of the law must have been of fre- 



556 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

quent occurrence. In the same year the tax on news- 
papers, which had been four pence, was reduced to a 
penny. 

King William IV. died at Windsor Castle June 20, 1837. 
He left no lawful heirs, but ten children whom he had 
publicly acknowledged, and who bore the name of F tz 
Clarence. 



CHAPTER LVII. 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 



Separation of Hanover. The Queen's Marriage. The War with Afghanistan. 
Free Trade. Famine in Ireland. The War in the Crimea, and the Sepoy 
Rebellion. England during the American Civil War. Agitations and Re- 
forms. Rise of Gladstone. Victorian Conquests. 

Victoria, daughter of the Duke of Kent, became queen 
at the age of eighteen. Upon the death of her uncle, Wil- 
liam IV., she Avas sent for, and at once took her place at the 
head of the council table, while the lord chancellor adminis- 
tered the usual oaths. 

Then the ministers heard for the first time " that exqui- 
sitely modulated voice which for so many years has lent a 
charm to the formal periods of a speech from the throne." 
She had been brought up away from the court, with Chris- 
tian and home-like care, and her modest and self-contained 
demeanor gave promise of a mild and fortunate reign. Her 
coronation took place June 28, 1838, amid prodigious dem- 
onstrations of joy. 

By this event Hanover became separated from Great 
Britain. The Georges had been rulers of both countries; 
but the constitution of Hanover did not admit of a s 
female sovereign as long as there were heirs male epa o r f a lon 
in the royal family. The Duke of Cumberland Han °ver. 
became king of Hanover, and at once showed himself to his 
people as an arbitrary and contemptible tyrant. There was 
always a capacity for stubborn injustice in his race. 

There was a revolt in Canada (1837-38) owing to dissatis- 
faction with the relations between the colonies and the home 
government; and as the insurgents expected aid from sym- 
pathizers in the United States, there was at one time a 
menace of war; but the revolt was suppressed without much 
bloodshed. 

The discontent of the laboring classes was a constant 
source of anxiety. Shortly after the accession of Victoria, 

55? 



558 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTOEY. 

statistics were prepared, showing the hours and wages of 
labor, the food, clothing, and home comforts of working 
people; and from all quarters — from the coal mines, facto- 
ries, founderies, and cutlery shops — the reports of 
W wages Dd suffering and wretchedness were appalling. In 
spite of all that was done under the Poor Laws 
and by private charity, there remained a myriad of woes 
without redress. Many believed that these evils would 
never be remedied until the workingmen were represented 
in Parliament, and had a voice in making the laws. The 
discussion of these topics was not confined to political meet- 
ings nor to the newspapers. The most eloquent writer of 
his age, Thomas Carlyle, has treated the subject with won- 
derful force in his volumes, under the titles of " Chartism," 
" Past and Present," and others, although it must be con- 
fessed he has failed to point out any adequate remedies. 

Chartism is the name given to the doctrine of those who 
demanded a full and free representation. The charter, as 
projiosed, consisted of six points: 1. Universal suffrage; 
2. Division of the kingdom into equal electoral dis- 
tricts ; 3. Vote by ballot ; 4. Annual Parliaments ; 
5. No property qualification for members ; 6. Payment to 
every member for his legislative services. A petition in 
favor of this change was presented to Parliament, having 
more than a million and a quarter of signatures. The upris- 
ing of the common people was regarded by the wealthy and 
titled with undisguised alarm, and there were riotous dis- 
turbances from time to time which caused great destruction 
of property. At Birmingham the outbreaks continued for 
more than ten days. 

The queen was married Feb. 10, 1840, to her cousin, 
Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha. He 

Th L^to' s was a man of considerable ability and of rare ehar- 
marnage. , . . f ., , , 

acter, as his subsequent career showed ; and as the 

marriage was one of mutual affection, instead of policy, it 

proved fortunate for the royal lovers and for the nation. 

Louis Napoleon, who had made an attempt at Strasburg 

some years before, to excite a revolution in his behalf, had 

been allowed to retire to England. In August, 1840, he set 

out with a party of friends in a steam-packet from London, 

landed near Boulogne, and endeavored to raise a revolt. 

He was taken prisoner and sentenced. It is known, of 

course, that he escaped six years later, and from being presi- 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 559 

dent of the French republic, became emperor, the basest 
and most cruel of the many cruel rulers of France. This 
landing at Boulogne, being wrongly supposed to have been 
connived at by the English authorities, caused much irrita- 
tion on the part of Louis Philippe and the French people 
towards England. 

"The Opium War" with China began in January, 1840, 
and ended July, 1843. It had its origin in base motives of 
profit, — from forcing a noxious drug upon a country whose 
rulers wished to check its use, — and it was in every way dis- 
creditable to the English. The Chinese, after unavailing 
resistance, yielded to the English demands, which included 
the cession of Hong-Kong, and the payment of twenty-one 
million dollars indemnity, besides a ransom of six million 
dollars for the city of Canton. The only good result was in 
the opening of the ports of China to trade, which was a 
great benefit to the world. 

The fortress of St. Jean d'Acre was bombarded by an 
English fleet Nov. 3, 1840. This was a chance collision, 
there being no state of war between England and Tur- 
key. The reduction of this place was important from a 
military point of view, and especially as it was the first 
occasion in which steamships were employed in war. 

Hostilities sprung up between England and Afghanistan, 
growing out of the necessity of guarding the northwestern 
frontier of Hindostan. A British army over twenty thou- 
sand strong inarched across the mountains and deserts that 
divide Hindostan from Persia, and laid siege to Ghuznee, 
the centre of the Mohammedan influence. The w 
place was taken in two hours, and then the army Afghanis- 
entered Cabul in triumph, occupying it with a tan< 
detachment of five thousand. The English officers and 
diplomatic agents were lulled into a false security, and num- 
bers of them were treacherously murdered. As their forces 
were divided, encompassed by foes, and without any sure 
reliance for food, the English determined to march back to 
India. They were harassed unceasingly by the hill tribes, 
and in one place, a narrow pass between precipitous moun- 
tains, not less than three thousand were slain. The weather 
was extremely cold, and the Indian portion of the army was 
perishing. Enemies multiplied as the remnant straggled on, 
and the army was daily reduced by massacre, hunger, "fatigue, 
and cold, until at last, of the whole army, one horseman only 
reached Jelalabad alive. 



560 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTGEY. 

It was not to be supposed that the English would endure 
this humiliation. An army was sent to open the way to 
Glmznee, and to avenge the frightful atrocities and treach- 
eries. This was promptly and thoroughly done in the sum- 
mer of 1842. Then Dost Mohammed, the former ruler, was 
left in power at Cabul, and the English marched back to 
India. 

The great question of domestic policy which absorbed 
the attention of the people of England from the year 1840 
forward, was that of removing the duty on imports, espe- 
cially upon breadstuff's. The need of England, it was 
claimed, was plenty of food for the laboring classes at low 
prices. The agricultural class, on the other hand, con- 
tended that the admission of foreign grain and cattle free of 
duty exposed them to a ruinous competition. This was the 
question involved in the corn laws, about which 
ree ra e. t ] ie ,. e was an annua j struggle. The earnest and elo- 
quent advocate of free trade was Richard Cobden. Sir 
Robert Peel was the leader of the Tories, or Conserva- 
tives, as they began to be called, and Lord John Russell, 
generally leader of the Whigs. Many times in the course 
of ten years, ministries were alternately set up and over- 
thrown by the fluctuation of public opinions. At first at- 
tempts were made to adjust duties on breadstuff s according 
to the urgency of demand, by a sliding scale ; but with 
additional experience the principle of free trade in the 
necessaries of life constantly gained. In time Sir Robert 
Peel became converted to this view, and while he was in 
power the ancient burdens were progressively removed from 
commerce and manufactures. The manufacture of silk and 
woollen cloths, and of glass and pottery, increased and throve 
beyond precedent. The doctrine of Free Trade Avas not, 
however, confined to the Conservatives, although it served 
as a party cry for some years. Lord John Russell in 1845 
avowed himself opposed to any duty on articles of food. 
Party lines were not strictly drawn on this question, and men 
were largely gOA r erned by their views of their own interests. 
London and Liverpool naturally favored the removal of 
burdens from commerce. The cotton-spinners of Lancashire 
the woollen manufactures of Yorkshire, the potters of 
Worcestershire and Staffordshire, wanted cheap food for 
their workmen, and free access to the markets of the world* 
The larger interests predominated, and no statesman would 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 561 

now venture to propose taxing the imports of food or the 
raw materials of manufactures. 

The agitation for the repeal of the Act of Union, that is 
for a separate government for Ireland, was continued. 
O'Connell addressed immense meetings of his countrymen, 
— meetings which constantly increased in numbers 
until, in August, 1843, a half a million of men, at f^dom of 
the least computation, assembled on the historic 
hill of Tara. Another was arranged for Clontarf, when the 
government considered it time to interfere, and O'Connell 
and seven others Avere arrested for seditious conduct. They 
were convicted at Dublin, and O'Connell was sentenced to u 
year's imprisonment, and to pay a fine of two thousand 
pounds. This judgment of the Irish court was reversed by 
the House of Lords on a point of law, but the trial put an 
end to the monster meetings. 

The Oregon boundary question was amicably settled with 
the United States in 1845. 

Continually the English were obliged to fight to maintain 
their possessions and prestige in India. Every year brought 
some new revolt or some new cause of anxiety. One of the 
most striking events was the conquest of Scinde by 
General Charles James Napier. Scinde is upon the ^j? g^de 
upper waters of the Indus, near Beloochistan. The 
war with Afghanistan made it necessary for the English 
troops to pass through Scinde, and to establish stations for 
troops and stores. This produced irritation, and the ameers 
(nobles) of Scinde, after the great massacre by the Afghans 
before related, thought themselves able to defy the English. 
Napier in a swift campaign taught them their error, and an- 
nexed the country. He was made civil governor, and ruled 
wisely four years. The principal fighting was done in the 
early months of 1843. 

In 1844 there was a sharp contest between the forces 
under Sir Hugh Gough and the Mahrattas, in consequence of 
which possession of Gwalior was confirmed to the English. 

In 1845 the Sikhs, a powerful race in Hindostan, revolted 
from the British rule, and attacked the army under Sir 
Hugh Gough. The Sikhs had 50,000 men and 108 cannon ; 
the English forces numbered 16,900 with 69 cannon, but 
were victorious in two desperately contested battles, in spite 
of being so heavily outnumbered. 

In consequence of the failure of the potato crops in Ire- 



062 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

land in 1845, and more extensively in 1846, there was great 
distress among the agricultural population. Pro- 
Famine in digious efforts for relief were made by private citi- 
zens as well as by the government. At one time 
three million of people daily received their food from the 
government agents. The United States sent over a ship of 
war, the Jamestown, with a cargo of breadstuffs purchased 
by the contributions of the American people. The famine 
was followed by vast emigration to America and Australia, 
in the next succeeding years. 

There was a formidable rebellion of the Sikhs in the 
Punjaub (north western portion of Hindostan) in 1848-49. 
mv c, v The fighting was obstinate and the losses heavy. 

The Sikhs . . 

Victory, as usual, remained with the English, who 
were led by the successful commander, Lord Gough. The 
Afghans took this opportunity of renewing the war, but with 
small results. 

The exhibition of the industries of all nations, projected 

by Prince Albert, and held in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, 

deserves mention as the inauguration of a new era, 

W Fa!r' S — an era m wn i cn human brotherhood promises to 

be something more than a name. Much larger and 

more complete exhibitions have been held since, but this 

was the first, and in many respects the most successful. 

In 1853 England was drawn into a war with Russia by 
the diplomatic arts of France, — a war in which much blood 
and treasure were wasted, with little useful result. The pre- 
text of the war was the dispute between the priests of the 
Latin and Greek churches as to the custody of the sacred 
places in and near Jerusalem. Russia believed Turkey to 
be near ruin, and gladly seized any pretext for war, hoping 
to seize some of its territory. Especially the czar wished 
to drive the Turks from Constantinople and vicinity, in 
order to have an outlet for his fleet from the Black Sea to 
the Mediterranean. England had no interest in the contest 
except her desire to keep Russia in check, or, to use a 
familiar phrase, to preserve the "balance of power" in 
Europe; the same motive which had prompted her for cen- 
turies to take part in so many of the wars on the Continent. 
France wished to avenge the fatal Russian campaign of the 
first Napoleon, which ended in the retreat of his dying army 
from burning Moscow. The emperor, Napoleon TIL, wished 
to avail himself of this feeling, that he might by some bril- 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 563 

liant stroke in a foreign field divert attention from his mer- 
ciless despotism at home. In his capacity as " a dutiful son 
of the church," he had a hypocritical pretext to interfere for 
the Latin clergy of Jerusalem ; but that protectant, practical, 
and thrifty England should have been induced to w 
take part in the ridiculous quarrel, was certainly in the 
unwise. Probably few public men in England now Crimea - 
would defend the course of the government at that time. 

The war begun by the co-operation of the French, Eng- 
lish, and Turkish forces ; and in 1855 the Italians sent 
fifteen thousand men to join with the allies. The comba- 
tants during the first year were fairly matched in the num- 
bers of troops emj)loyed. The battles were contested with 
almost superhuman energy, and their names stand out with 
flame-like brilliancy on the page of history. The battle of 
the Alma and of Inkerman, the charge of the Light Dra- 
goons at Balaclava, the storming of the redoubts around 
Sebastopol, are among the most noticeable events in modern 
military annals. The charge at Balaclava will live in Tenny- 
son's immortal poem. 

This campaign is memorable for the noble services of Eng- 
lish women as nurses in the hospitals, under the lead of Miss 
Florence Nightingale. 

It was also the first campaign in which the great London 
newspapers employed men of eminent ability as correspond- 
ents at the seat of war. The whole course of events was 
illuminated ; and it is probable that the facts and the pictur- 
esque scenes of this contest were known to the generation 
then living, as no war had ever been known before. 

The battles are mostly considered as victories for the al- 
lies ; and it is certain that terrible losses were inflicted upon 
the Russians on the field, and by the many bombardments. 
But the Russians also were brave and efficient, and the allied 
armies suffered severely in turn. And the last struggles of 
the war were in favor of the defenders of their own soil. 
The honors and the final results were pretty fairly divided. 
Peace was made in February, 1856, by the mediation of 
Austria. 

The rule of the English in India was strengthened in 
1856 by the deposition of the king of Chide and the annexa- 
tion of his realm to their territory. The ex-king was al- 
lowed a pension of one hundred and twenty thousand 
pounds, and during the following summer, being on a visit 



561 GUEST*,S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

to London, he used to drive in Hyde Park, wearing his 
scarlet robes and golden crown, — an actor without, an en- 
gagement. In 1857-58 the power of the English in India was 
put to the proof by a wide-spread mutiny among the Sepoys 
or native troops. The cause was apparently trifling, and the 
whole series of disasters might have been avoided by a little 
consideration and tact. The cartridges given out to the 
Sepoys were wrapped in greased paper, the grease being be- 
lieved to be a mixture of lard and tallow. This combina- 
tion was an abhorrence to the whole Indian army, — to the 

Hindoos because the cow was considered a sacred 
rebeUion 7 an bnal, and to the Mohammedans because the hog 

was an abomination ; and by the orders for loading 
and firing, each soldier was required to bite off the end of the 
cartridge, and thereby taste what his religious training had 
made unclean. The mutiny broke out at Mecrut, and ex- 
tended to Delhi, Avhere the native king was proclaimed. It 
cost the English general twelve hundred of his men to re-es- 
tablish authority in Delhi. There was a still sharper strug- 
gle at Lucknow, and then at Cawnpore. It seemed for a time 
that the English would be driven out of India. The insur- 
gents spared neither age nor sex, but butchered prisoners, 
and women, and children without mercy. The name of Nena 
Sahib is forever linked to the frightful massacre at Cawnpore 
where his victims were thrown promiscuously in a large well. 
The vengeance of the English did not sleep. Sir Henry 
Havelock fought nine decisive battles between Cawnpore and 
Lucknow. The situation of the English was full of diffi- 
culty. The natives arose in a great many places, at great 
distances, and the forces that could be relied upon as loyal to 
England were not numerous. It was necessary to strike 
quickly at many different points, and no general could lead 
more than a few thousand men. The insurgents were pos- 
sessed with demoniacal fury, and respected none of the 
usages of civilized warfare. The cholera was fatally preva- 
lent, and officers and men were continually falling victims to 
this terrible disease. Sir Colin Campbell was sent out as com- 
mander-in-chief, and arrived in November, 1857. He was able, 
ready, and vigorous, and was fortunately supported by many 
very eminent officers. He was subsequently known in his- 
tory as Lord Clyde. The contest was long and severe. 
Battles were fought at short intervals through the years 
1857 and 1858, ami it was not until May, 1859, that thanks- 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 565 

giving was proclaimed for the pacification of India. In fact, 
there were outbreaks, though steadily diminishing, until 
1865. 

The vengeance of England followed without pity the 
leaders of the mutiny and those responsible for the murder 
of women and children. The rebellions rajahs were banished 
or hanged, and the cut-throats were blown from the mouths 
of cannon. 

The connection between India and England, founded on 
force and fear, has been greatly strengthened of late years 
by conciliation, and especially by the education of the na- 
tives in modern arts and mechanics, and by their increasing 
prosperity as merchants and bankers. A considerable num- 
ber, including most of the leading minds, see the advantages 
of European civilization, and are never likely to go into rebel- 
lion against their own interests. 

In the course of centuries the history of any great power 
broadens, and connects itself with that of contemporary 
states, so that a continuous narrative becomes impossible 
unless we also view the affairs of its colonies, allies, and 
enemies. In the narrow limits of the present book a broad 
survey is out of the question. And yet there are periods 
when affairs in England were unimportant, and all 
the wisdom and power of her government were oc- Jfig48 tion3 
cupied with the problems which were offered by 
the great and momentous events iii other countries. Thus, 
in 1848, at the time of the abdication of Louis Philippe, 
there was revolution in the air over nearly all Europe. 
The severance of a province, the fall of a monarchy, or the 
setting up of a provisional government was a matter too 
common to excite surprise. 

At the close of the war of the Crimea nearly every nation 
had an interest in the settlement of terms of peace. In 1859 
the kingdom of Sardinia, guided by the powerful mind of 
Count Cavour, became the centre of Italian unity. Louis 
Napoleon was fairly magnetized by the great statesman ; and 
the armies of France, led by the emperor and his ablest 
generals, assisted in defeating the Austrians in a series of 
tremendous battles at Montebello, Magenta, and 
Solferino, and driving them out of Italy. The fre^ftafy 11 
petty tyrants of the smaller states disappeared from 
the stage of history; and soon Parma, Modena, Tuscany, 
Naples, and Sicily were annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia, 



566 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

and at last, after the defeat of the Papal army, Victor Em- 
manuel was acknowledged king of Italy. He did not, how- 
ever, make Rome his capital until later, for the reason that 
the French for a time supported the temporal power of the 
Pope. This was one of the most important events of modern 
times, and it engaged the undivided attention of Christen- 
dom. The English share in the great movement was merely 
diplomatic ; but the domestic affairs of Great Britain for the 
same period demand but little attention. 

Another series of great events occurred from 1860 to 1865, 
during which the narrative of English history is almost 
_,, . .. wholly occupied with the affairs of a foreign gov- 
war in eminent. We refer to the secession of the southern 
America, portion of the United States, and the struggle to 
set up a slave-holding confederacy. As England had abol- 
ished slavery, and had declared the slave trade piracy, 
taking upon herself the duty of enforcing her moral con- 
victions by men-of-war, the people of the North naturally 
expected her sympathy. But self-interest, as usual, was 
shown to be far stronger than moral principle. The Northern 
States were to some extent her rivals in manufactures and 
commerce, while the Southern States produced the articles 
which she needed, — cotton, rice, tobacco, and naval stores. 
During the war the raising of these staples was mostly sus- 
pended, and the blockade by the United States navy ] ire- 
vented shipment. The mills of Manchester were obliged to 
pay tenfold for cotton, and there was nothing but starvation 
before the millions of English operatives. The English 
government acknowledged the Confederacy as belligerents, 
and after a time the English people of all parties gave their 
open and undivided sympathy to the attempt to overthrow 
the general government, and to establish a slave-holding 
republic in its place. It was from England that the Confed- 
erates obtained arms and equipments, and upon English aid 
they rested their hopes. Men-of-war were built, armed, 
manned, and provisioned in English ports, and sailed forth to 
destroy American commerce. Chief among these was the 
" Alabama," an English vessel which it is no misnomer to 
call piratical, and whose officers in justice should have been 
hanged at the yard-arm. This vessel was the terror of the 
seas" for two years, during which the losses she inflicted upon 
American merchants amounted to uncounted millions. Her 
career was brought to a fitting close off Cherbourg, June 19, 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN". 567 

1864, when, after a short but desperate engagement with the 
United States corvette " Kearsarge," she was blown up. 

During the time when Englishmen, with the open conniv- 
ance of their government, were aiding the Confederates, 
Mr. Adams, the United States minister, protested against 
the course of the ministry, and intimated to Lord John 
Russell that the result must be war. No more privateers 
were allowed to sail. So complete was the proof of the 
deliberate wrong-doing of England against a friendly power, 
that an international tribunal assembled at Geneva, com- 
prising the most eminent publicists in Europe, awarded to 
the United States as damages fifteen millions of doHars, 
which England paid. 

With the surrender of General Lee to General Grant 
(1865) the Southern cause Avas lost; the bonds of the 
Confederacy, held in large amounts in England, became 
worthless ; England was censured by the North for her 
unjust and hostile conduct, and hated by the South for 
abandoning its cause. In none of her many disagreeable 
complications had she reaped such a harvest of distrust and 
odium. 

There was another European war, on a small scale, in 
regard to which England lost credit, and was generally be- 
lieved to have acted in bad faith. The duchies of Schleswig, 
Holstein, and Lauenburg, had long been ruled by the king of 
Denmark; but the first and a part of the third had 
a population of German origin. Upon the death schleswig- 
of the king of Denmark, Frederick VII., in 1863, Holstein 
without direct heirs, the German Confederation laid 
claim to these duchies. The inhabitants, in spite of their 
German descent, were in favor of remaining under Danish 
rule. The English government, especially Lord John Rus- 
sell, was not pleased to see the already powerful German 
states increase by conquest, and in official notes encouraged 
the Danes and their duchies to hold out. Lord Russell said 
in Parliament that " if there was a violent attempt to over- 
throw the independence of Denmark, those who made it 
would find that it would not be Denmark alone with which 
they would have to contend." Relying upon this implied 
promise of help, the smallest kingdom of Europe undertook 
to defend itself against the attack of Prussia and Austria, 
who Avere allied for this purpose. The contest Avas necessa- 
rily short ; and the feeling against England on the part of 



568 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the vanquished was extremely bitter. It should be said that 
for England to go to war for such a cause would have been 
very unwise, because it was strictly none of her business to 
interfere. England would have had a far higher call to inter- 
fere in favor of the Poles, as she was expected to do a little 
before, to save them from the tyranny of Russia. But her 
ministers had given hasty or delusive promises, and she suf- 
fered in consequence. Lord Palmerston was the head of 
the government, which had a narrow escape from the cen- 
sure of the House of Commons, when the proceedings came 
to be discussed. The great and popular minister was more 
distinguished by adroitness and selfish policy than by devo- 
tion to principle. 

It may here be mentioned that Prussia wished to incorpo- 
rate the duchies with its own territory, while Austria desired 
to have them ruled by the prince of Augustenburg. Austria 
was likely to succeed in the federal diet, when Prussia sud- 
denly mobilized its army, and defeated the Austrians in a 
severe battle at Sadowa, in Bohemia. Prussia acquired the 
duchies, and gained a prominence, which it has since held, 
in the German Empire and in Europe. 

The agitation for the extension of the franchise and for 
equality of representation in Parliament could not be re- 
strained. Vast and tumultuous but not riotous meet- 
ofthe ings were held. The Whig administration under 

franchise. T j0rc l John Russell and Gladstone brought forward 
a reform bill in 1865; and as it failed, they were forced to 
resign. A Tory or Conservative ministry was formed in 
1866, of which Lord Derby and Disraeli were leaders; and in 
the following year, after many vicissitudes, a bill was passed 
which was far more liberal than the one the Whigs had pro- 
posed. This shows that British statesmen acted upon com- 
pulsion or in deference to public opinion, and that thei-e was 
no question of principle between the two great parties. The 
Whigs and Liberals were friendly to reform, while the Tories 
were at heart adverse; but Disraeli's influence with his 
followers was all-powerful, and he persuaded them to vote 
for the extension of the franchise to strengthen himself and 
party. In the discussions John Bright and Mr. Gladstone 
were prominent on the Liberal side, and they established 
lasting reputations for eloquence. The demands of the 
people, however, were only partially satisfied with the re- 
form bill, and the agitation for complete freedom of suffrage 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 569 

has never ceased. So the question of landlords' and tenants' 
rights, especially in Ireland, has continued to perplex min- 
isters, to upset cabinets, and to excite the most anxious 
feelings on the part of property-holders and the conservative 
classes. England appears to be drifting towards democracy. 

The great event of the year 1866 was the success of the 
Atlantic cable, by which Europe and America are brought 
into intimate relation, with incalculable results, jn'esent and 
future. 

In 1867 the provinces of British North America were 
formed into a confederation called the Dominion of Canada, 
with the seat of government at Ottawa, in the prov- 
ince of Ontario. It embraces all the provinces Dominion 
excepting Newfoundland. The governor-general 
and the members of the upper house of Parliament are ap- 
pointed by the crown, but in other respects the govern- 
ment resembles that of the United States. 

Theodore, king of Abyssinia, who claimed to be a de- 
scendant from the queen of Sheba, had detained certain 
Englishmen as prisoners, and, having refused to 
give them up, Sir Robert Napier was sent to lib- Maldaia f 
erate them, and to give the African monarch a 
lesson. An English army marched four hundred miles 
through burning deserts and mountain 'passes, and, having 
rescued the prisoners, captured Magdala, the capital, de- 
stroyed it, and left it a mass of blackened rocks. Theo- 
dore died by his own hand when he saw his army beaten. 

The Protestant Episcopal Church had been set up as the 
national church in Ireland, and was supported at public 
charge, although a vast majority of the population 
were Roman Catholics. This had been a standing church Sl1 
grievance, but to overthrow an existing institution 
in England has always been a matter of difficulty. Mr. 
John Francis Maguire, a man of singular discretion as well 
as an ardent friend of his native Ireland, brought the mat- 
ter to the attention of Parliament, and with the aid of 
Gladstone and John Bright a bill was passed to disestab- 
lish the Irish Church, leaving all denominations equal, and 
depending wholly on voluntary contributions for support. 
The measure was almost frantically opposed by the Con- 
servatives, including, of course, the bishops and clergy. 

Mr. Gladstone continued his labors as a reformer by 
securino- a change in the Irish laws relating to the holdings 



570 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

of land. Previously Irish tenants were wholly at the mercy 

of their landlords, without any security for continuance, and 
liable to pay increased rent on account of perma- 

tenant laws. nent improvement °* their lands made by them- 
selves. The change was, on the whole, beneficial, 

although it is not certain that anything would entirely satisfy 

the Irish tenants short of full ownership of the lands they 

occupy. 

At the instance of Gladstone, an order was signed by the 

queen, declaring that the purchase of commissions in the 

~ , , army should be considered illegal, leaving promo- 
Purchased J , . o ' .... » '.,. 

commis- tion dependent upon seniority or brilliant military 
sions. service. This most just measure was most bitterly 

resisted by the aristocratic class, and a bill to bring about 
the same result had been previously rejected by the House 
of Lords. 

The next great reform was the introduction of the ballot, 
in order to remedy the corruption and iutimida- 

e a ° " tion which had become inseparable from the prac- 
tice of viva voce voting. 

The liberal ministry further earned the lasting gratitude 
of England by adopting a system of free national education, 
proposed by W. E. Foster. It is singular that in such an 
enlightened country a measure so just, beneficent, 
schools. anc ^ necessary, had been delayed so long. This 
great improvement was complicated by the strug- 
gles of religious sects to secure advantages; many seeming 
to prefer that the poor should remain ignorant rather than 
be instructed in purely secular schools. 

Next came the enactment of the University Tests Bill, by 
virtue of which the sons of Catholics and Dissent- 
tests? rSity ers were enabled to receive the benefit of the higher 
education equally with members of the English 
Church. This obviously just measure, like all the others, 
was opposed by the House of Lords, and was carried with 
great difficulty. The Lords and gentry had long been a 
close corporation, holding on to all the sources of power in 
the state, the army and church ; and they were obstinately 
determined to keep Dissenters, Catholics, and persons of 
common birth from any chance to rise to high places. 

The reforms which were brought about by the Liberals 
under the lead of Gladstone, were of the highest impor- 
tance to the well-being of the English people. More prog- 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN". 571 

ress was made in the few years of Gladstone's ministry than 
in any previous century of England's history. It was for 
others like Pitt to extend the area of British power hy 
conquest, but Gladstone has striven to make the 
country a home for laborers as well as lords, to a s one ' 
secure humane legislation, to diffuse intelligence, and to 
soften the asperity between classes. His next endeavor, 
which was to arrange a plan for university education in 
Ireland, was unsuccessful. No scheme could be adopted 
that would satisfy the contending religious sects. As the 
Liberal ministry had a majority against them in the House 
of Commons (1873), they resigned. Gladstone was the first 
English minister who had really striven to aid Ireland, and 
he was overthrown by the votes of Irish members of Parlia- 
ment. The resignations were withdrawn at the queen's 
request, because Disraeli was unwilling to assume the re- 
sponsibility of affairs. But soon the Liberals went out of 
office, and the Conservatives came in. 

It would have been difficult to interrupt the narrative of 
domestic affairs to refer to a matter of contemporary history, 
and it may now be mentioned as an event of im- _ 
portance, that in 1870 the relations between France Prussian 
and Germany — or, more accurately, Prussia — be- war - 
came hostile ; and upon a flimsy pretext, Louis Napoleon, 
the French emperor, declared war. He was over-confident 
of his power. The enemy had a much larger and better 
disciplined army, and his troops were met and beaten before 
they reached the frontier. The French had a series of 
crushing defeats, and at Sedan the emperor was taken pris- 
oner. The Germans at length took Paris (1871), and ex- 
acted an enormous sum of money from the nation as an 
indemnity. Louis Napoleon, with his wife and child, were 
permitted to retire to England, and a republic was set up in 
France. France lost its military prestige and the provinces 
of Alsace and Lorraine. 

Disraeli was a man of genius, but was erratic, theatrical 
in manner, and fond of pomp, He was anxious to be a 
power in European politics, and to make England an 
arbiter among nations. One of his earliest measures as a 
was to add to the title of the queen, the rather statesman- 
boastful name of Empress of India. Soon an opportunity 
occurred for the display of his peculiar talents. The inhabit- 
ants of the Danubian provinces had been long restive under 



572 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

the rule of the Sultan of Turkey. A rebellion broke out in 
Bulgaria, and the Bashi Bazouks were sent from Constanti- 
nople to put it down. They massacred men, women, and 
children, and committed all manner of atrocities. More than 
twelve thousand persons were killed at Philipopolis. The 
neighboring states, Servia, Roumania, and Montenegro re- 
volted, and Russia, always ready to move on the sultan's 
capital, sent on its armies under General Todtleben, the hero 
of Sebastopol. Turkey made short work of subduing the small 
states, and for a time seemed to have the advantage of the 
Russians. But the Russians soon captured Plevna and 
Kars with terrible slaughter, and could have occupied Con- 
stantinople if they had been disposed. The cause of Turkey 
was especially dear to English Conservatives, who had a 
chronic dread of Russia, and a suspicion of her ulterior 
designs. England was preparing for war. Prince Bismarck 
proposed a conference of the Great Powers at Berlin, and 
England was represented by Disraeli himself and Lord Salis- 
bury. The various points in dispute were settled more or 
less satisfactorily, England becoming possessor of the island 
of Cyprus. Disraeli's progress, going and returning, was in 
great state, amid throngs of spectators. Shortly after, it 
was found out that previous to the meeting of the congress 
he had made secret treaties with both Russia and Turkey, 
agreeing in advance what should be done ; so that the formal 
assembly, instead of being an occasion for discussion, was 
only a solemn show. 

The English government had further trouble with Afghan- 
istan. It had sent an embassy, with a large retinue, to Cabul, 
against the will of the ruler, — one of the sons of 
Afghanis- I) os t Mohammed, who had so terribly destroyed a 
British army in 1841. A popular tumult arose, and 
the envoy and nearly all his staff were murdered. The Eng- 
lish sent an army, took Cabul, and sent its ruler away to 
India. But no definite result was gained. The Afghans 
were not tamed, still less conciliated, and the frontier of 
India was as much exposed as before. 

Troubles arose in South Africa with the Zulus, a power- 
ful tribe of natives who lived on the border of 
The Zulus. Na1 . al Affair8 were complicated by the hostile 

disposition of the Boers, descendants of Dutch colonists in 
the neighboring Transvaal Republic, and by disputes con- 
cerning boundaries. Their kins: defeated the English in a 



THE VICTORIAN REIGN. 573 

terrible battle, but he was finally conquered and taken pris- 
oner. He had been disposed to be friendly with the Eng- 
lish, and his cause of complaint was just. 

The result of the campaign produced a painful impression 
in England. The Prince Imperial, only son of the late 
Emperor Napoleon who had volunteered in the English ser- 
vice, was killed while out with a scouting party. 

The Suez Canal had been planned by French engineers, 
and carried through by French capital. The Khedive of 
Egypt was the owner of four hundred thousand 
shares (about one half of the total number), and, J he § uez 
being in financial straits, offered them for sale. To 
the surprise of expectant capitalists, the English government 
bought them in a lump. This was a shrewd and fortunate 
stroke by Disraeli, and for which he deserved great credit. 
English commerce pays the largest share of the tolls, and 
England, above all other countries, is interested in maintain- 
ing the canal as the short cut to her Indian empire. 

But on the whole the showy talents and fondness for in- 
trigue which marked the prime minister were not calculated 
to retain the respect of the English people. His _ 
oratory was as brilliant as ever, and his admirers of the 
appeared to be constantly expecting some brilliant Liberals - 
stroke of statesmanship at home or abroad, but the outcome 
of his policy was not acceptable to men of sober views. In 
1879 the Conservative ministry came to an end, and the 
Liberals returned to power. 

The acquisition of territory has been always the ruling 
passion of Englishmen, and their colonies and dependencies 
are numerous beyond parallel. We give the principal names 
in the long list : British North America, comprising the 
New Dominion and all that part of the Continent north of 
the United States except Alaska; islands of Antigua, the 
Bermudas, Barbadoes, Dominica, Jamaica, the Bahamas, 
Montserrat, St. Christopher's, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Trini- 
dad, Tobago, the Falklands; Honduras and British Guiana ; 
Hindostan, part of Burmah, the islands of Ceylon, Malacca, 
Singapore, and Mauritius ; the Gold Coast of Africa, Sierra 
Leone, Cape Colony, and Natal; the Australian continent, 
Tasmania, the islands of New Zealand, Fiji, Cyprus, Malta, 
St. Helena, the Rock of Gibraltar, the city of Hong-Kong, 
and a protectorate over Egypt. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

ENGLISH LITERATURE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 

The Scientific Writers. The Historians. Essayists. The great Novelists. 

The Poets. 

The literature of the present century has been of vast 
bulk, covering an unprecedented variety of subjects, and of 
the greatest importance to human welfare. It has been the 
most fruitful period in the world's history. 

Most of the great inventions which have facilitated the 
work of mankind, and which have made the luxuries of 
princes in former ages the necessaries of every-day life in 
this, have sprung from the labors of chemists and other 
scientific explorers. All the laws of nature have a bearing 
more or less direct upon our well-being. 

The highest genius of the present age has been devoted to 
studying the relations of man to nature. The labors of 
Darwin have occupied the attention of thoughtful minds 
throughout the world ; and his works form the most valuable 
contribution to the study of natural science ever made by 
one man. 

Huxley and Tyndall have been strong auxiliaries to their 
great master, and either of them would have been considered 
great in any time preceding. Huxley is probably the abler 
man, but Tyndall has a more vivid imagination, and makes 
a scientific treatise sparkle with poetic illustrations. Max 
Miiller has won renown by the study of races through the 
medium of language. Sir Charles Lyell has shown the an- 
tiquity of man by the testimony of geology. Sir John 
Lubbock and E. B. Tylor have given accounts of the primi- 
tive life of mankind in the period before written history. 
Sir David Brewster developed the science of optics and the 
theory of colors. Herbert Spencer has endeavored to sepa- 
rate the provinces of the known and unknown in practical 

574 



LATE ENGLISH LITERATURE. 575 

and in speculative science, and has formulated a theory of 
progressive development or evolution intended to embrace 
all human knowledge. Henry Thomas Buckle undertook to 
account for the whole activity of man by general laws, hold- 
ing that the differences in intellectual and moral character 
were principally dependent upon material things, such as 
climate, soil, food, and scenery. He had but just unfolded 
his plan in two volumes called the " History of Civilization," 
when he died, at the age of thirty-six. William E. H. Lecky 
is a historian of ideas, and has used the history of nations to 
set forth his views upon the progress of men in morals and in 
political and social science. His works are of the highest 
value to thoughtful readers. John Stuart Mill was a philos- 
opher of the utilitarian school, who treated of logical meth- 
ods, political economy, the theory of morals, the source of 
ideas, and other kindred topics, upon the most of which 
the best thinkers have been and remain at variance. 

There is no room to give even titles of the works of 
applied science, by means of which the studies and labors 
of men are aided. 

We are concerned in this rapid survey only with original 
minds. The great bulk of reading, even of good reading, 
comes from the labors of a praiseworthy second class, who 
interpret, explain, and illustrate, and so bring high thoughts 
to the comprehension of men. 

The period we are considering is rich in historical works. 
There has been no single work comparable to Gibbon's "De- 
cline and Fall of the Roman Empire ; " but the general 
method and tone of history has been far higher than in for- 
mer centuries, and the preliminary studies have been more 
thorough, so that the history has rested on solid founda- 
tions. 

Thomas Carlyle was far from being an ideal historian, for 
his defects were inborn, and they grew with his growth. He 
believed in the subordination of classes and the government 
of the able few. He was impatient, prejudiced, and unfair. 
His style is as unnatural as the voice of Irving. Yet he 
was the possessor of genius seldom equalled in its way, ami 
never surpassed. His descriptions of battles are so vivid that 
the reader seems to be transported to the actual scenes. 
Any narrative which he gives is interesting if only because 
he wrote it. His " French Revolution " is a series of sketches 
done with phosphorescent lines; There is nothing like it in 



576 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

literature, and the memory of it is indestructible. His es- 
says, such as those upon Voltaire, Burns, and Johnson, are 
altogether the best in modern literature. In " Past and 
Present " he showed that he could have written mediaeval 
romances, like Scott. His dyspeptic temper often makes him 
rude and captious, and he received the homage of admirers 
with grunts, as if he were a Hottentot king. But probably 
he was far from malevolent, and, in view of the incomparable 
products of his busy pen, we can afford to forget many tilings 
that are deplorable. Whoever reads his " Correspondence 
with Emerson " will see how far above him in serene moral 
elevation Avas the New England philosopher. 

Thomas Babington Macaulay was a variously accomplished 
man, and succeeded in almost all his undertakings. His re- 
sources w T ere ample, his style was splendidly ornate, and his 
writings are so full of energy that the reader has hardly 
breath to criticise. His great work, "The History of Eng- 
land," was left incomplete ; but it is a glowing picture of the 
time, and, in spite of some inaccuracies, will long be admired. 
His essays were read forty years ago with avidity by all 
students, and they were the means of leading many into the 
delights of intellectual life. They have a permanent value, 
like those of Carlyle, while amost all contemporary essays 
are already forgotten. George Grote's " History of Greece " 
is a monumental work, complete in design and in execution, 
leaving little of value to be done by any successor. 

Alexander Kinglake has published four volumes of a 
" History of the Crimean War." He is a brilliant writer, 
with unequalled power of sarcasm, and is sure of public 
attention. His " Eothen," a small book of Eastern travels, 
is full of life-like pictures. 

James Anthony Froude has written a history of the reigns 
of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, protracted into twelve 
volumes. His ability is beyond question, but he is a strong 
partisan, and his defence of the many-wived king is the 
plausible w r ork of an advocate rather than the impartial 
summing up of a judge. 

Edward A. Freeman, among other works, has written an 
elaborate history of the Norman Conquest, indispensable to 
any w r ho would become familiar with the subject. 

Henry John Green, a professor at Oxford, is the author of 
two valuable w r orks, " History of the English People" and 
"The Making of England." He has gone into the remote 



LATE ENGLISH LITERATURE. 577 

history of the Saxons and Angles in their native country, 
relating their customs and mode of life and their political 
ideas. There is no history of England extant which is based 
upon such thorough foundations as to the beginnings. He 
gives life and individuality to each of the invading tribes. 
The Saxon period is also fully treated. If a reader can have 
time but for one history of England, he should take Green's. 
It should be added that no other historian has taken so much 
pains with the account of authors and literature. The 
sketches of Shakespeare and Chaucer, and of all the long 
line of great names, down to Dickens and Thackeray, are per- 
fect in style and are the best (considering their compass) ever 
printed. Mr. Guest, the author of the history on which this 
present work is founded, was a pupil and admirer of Green. 

We should •mention some authors of ability who have 
treated of various topics in historical form or in the shape 
of essays. Dean Stanley has written many volumes marked 
by a style of singular beauty, among them the " History of 
Westminster Abbey." John Ruskin, who disputes with Car- 
lyle the first place among writers, is the author of several 
magnificent works. "The Stones of Venice" first made 
him famous. "Modern Painters" is his most important 
work. Ruskin is pre-eminently an elorpient writer, full of 
impassioned outbursts and gorgeous pictorial effects. But 
he is like a monarch who tolerates no difference of opinion, 
however his own course of thought may have changed. His 
attitude towards the common classes has been curiously like 
Carlyle's. If it were not that the word has been vulgarized, 
we might call him a royal crank, — a man of sublime ideas, 
with a mental twist. 

Thomas DeQuincey, the opium-eater, was a compound 
of genius with degrading frailty, and his works naturally 
resemble their author. His essays, which fill ten volumes, 
abound in splendid passages. Bui they are more agreeable 
to literary epicures than nourishing to sincere students. 

Matthew Arnold furnishes an instance of literary success 
without the production of any work of the first order. 
Genius produces its incomparable works, and Talent writes 
about them. Arnold is a charming writer, with rare tact 
and a command of scholarly English, and with a refined 
taste formed by the study of classic models ; and so perfect 
is his art, both in prose and verse, that he almost makes one 
forget that he is not a creator. 



578 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

Charles Lamb has long enjoyed the reputation of a de- 
lightful humorist, and, though his essays are of the thinnest 
substance, yet by their easy and natural style the fresh 
charm continues. 

Dr. John Brown of Edinburgh gave his hours of leisure to 
anecdotes and reminiscences, and by these slight efforts 
showed remarkable power. Nothing in modern literature 
is more pathetic or more absorbing than his •• Marjorie Flem- 
ing" and " Rab and his Friends." Wilson, editor of "Black- 
wood's Magazine," and Jeffrey, editor of "The Edinburgh 
Review," were leaders in their day, their names on every lip, 
but they will not outlast their century. 

For the literature of theology we have no room, but we 
may refer to the rude strength and homely wit of Spurgeon's 
sermons, and to the pure and exquisite English of Cardinal 
Newman. 

John Forster has written some delightful biographical es- 
says, better even then his full and completed lives. David 
Masson's "Life of Milton" is an almost ideally perfect work. 
The series now in course of publication, " English Men of 
Letters," embraces many fresh and able books. 

The novel has obtained its development in the present 
century, and it has borrowed from history, science, the 
drama, and poetry, much of their characteristic excellence 
and charm. In fact, a novel of the highest rank is one of 
the most difficult and most splendid of creative works. The 
novelist is now bound to do more than to amuse a reader's 
leisure. His best thoughts are none too good to be inter- 
spersed as epigrams in the narrative. His pictures of scene- 
ry are studied like the matchless descriptions of Ruskin. 
His views of human nature must be carefully studied. His 
illustrations must have the glancing lights of poetry, and 
his style must be brilliant and unborrowed. A great novel 
is the supreme effort of genius in prose. 

Some beautiful and touching novels and romances were 
written in the preceding century, but noue at all comparable 
to the masterpieces of our own. 

The first great romancer was Scott, whose stock of legends 
and border tales was as inexhaustible as his poetic fancy 
and natural eloquence. For maturer readers, the " Waverley 
Novels" retain their charm, and demand a complete perusal 
at least every five years. 

The idol of the public is Dickens, a prolific creator of 



LATE ENGLISH LITERATURE. 579 

characters, and of grotesque comedy in action. His novels 
are like picture-galleries, and not a sketch of his needs the 
name of author or subject. He seldom draws ideal heroes 
or heroines, but the middle and lower classes of Englishmen 
are shown with all their good qualities as well as with what 
is absurd and ridiculous, and in this respect he has never 
had a rival. But he seldom instructs (unless by examples), 
and he has no pretensions to style in writing. He has a 
natural and pleasing How, which at times is almost metrical, 
like verse, but his use of words does not show the mastery 
which comes from scholarship. But with so many great 
and positive merits, it will be long before he is forgotten. 

Thackeray's creations were less varied, and his comedy 
less riotous. His people are types of classes, and his effects 
not so obvious to the common mind. But as a satirist of 
the vulgar newly-rich, and of the poverty-stricken aristocrat, 
he has never been surpassed. There is a curious genealogi- 
cal order in his novels, beginning with " Henry Esmond," 
and they present a moving panorama of generations, though 
with variations of scene and of character. The general 
reader is apt to consider Thackeray cynical and heartless, 
but this is a mere veil to the most tender and sympathizing 
nature. As to style, Thackeray is a master, with scarcely 
an equal. In ease and naturalness he resembles Addison, 
while he has many traits in which Addison had no share. 
His facility and copiousness, especially in burlesque, are re- 
markable. " The Rose and the Ring " and " Rebecca and 
Rowena " are the best in the language. Equally effective 
are his views of high life as seen below stairs, as shown in 
"Jeames's Diary'" and the "Yellowplush Papers." His 
studies of human nature seem like intuitions : hearts and 
motives were open to him like the mechanism of glass clocks. 
All things considered, — power, insight, humor, comedy, 
satire, wisdom, style, — he far outranks an} r English novelist. 

Charles Lever has written admirable novels of Irish life, 
especially interesting from their brisk adventures and mili- 
tary experiences. They have a fascination which is irre- 
sistible, and their accounts of famous campaigns have 
considerable historic value. 

"George Eliot," the pseudonyme of Marian Evans, after- 
wards Mrs. G. H. Lewes, was a woman of great intellect, 
and a profound student of human nature. Her novels have 
had enormous sales, and they have a deservedly high rank. 



580 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

They are generally sombre in tone, and are marked by wise 
observations more than by poetic fancy. The tendency is to 
revery and sometimes to monotony, bnt the thoughtful 
reader pardons much, in view of the sharp characterization 
and their noble lessons. It is as if Pascal, or Montaigne, or 
even Lord Bacon, were putting wisdom in the form of 
story. 

These are the great novels, almost a necessary part of 
modern education. After them come an exceeding multi- 
tude with many positive merits. The most striking among 
them are the works of Bulwer, afterwards Lord Lytton, — a 
man of boundless ambition and industry, and a really able 
writer. Two of his plays, "Richelieu" and "The Lady of 
Lyons," are the most popular on the modern stage. He 
tried verse repeatedly, but he was not a poet. He was a 
prodigious reader, and brought all sorts of curious knowl- 
edge into his works. His early novels were sentimental, 
ultra-romantic, and are not to be commended for youth. 
But when he wrote " The Caxtons," imitating the man- 
ner of Sterne, he made a total change. The succeed- 
ing novels are admirable, and can be read many times. His 
facility was great, and it sometimes might be mistaken for 
inspiration. He accomplished all that could be done by a 
man of great talent who had not the supreme gift of genius. 

Charles Reade was an excellent story-teller, and among 
many interesting novels produced one that is almost great, 
— "The Cloister and the Hearth." It is valuable for its 
historical studies, as it is absorbing in its pathetic story. 
One of his early novelettes should also be mentioned as being 
an almost perfect specimen, — "Christie Johnston." The 
writer of this chapter remembers hearing Emerson mention 
it as unique and incomparable in its art. 

Thomas Hardy is remarkable for his power in depicting 
the character and speech of laborers and clowns. No one 
since Shakespeare has entered into the thoughts of simple- 
minded men as he has, and expressed their dimly-conceived 
ideas with such artless fidelity. He has also great tragic 
power; and those who keep their faculties about them as 
they read, so as to till out by imagination what the novelist 
only intimates, will find that Hardy is a creator of a new 
force. His novels are to be carefully studied, and not a 
word missed. 

Charlotte Bronte produced a genuine sensation in the 



LATE ENGLISH LITERATURE. 581 

reading world by the production of "Jane Eyre." In the 
careful study of effective details she even surpasses George 
Eliot ; and she had, what that remarkable woman had not, a 
A'ital warmth and energy, and a nervous susceptibility, which 
lay hold of the reader, and compel every faculty to attend 
upon the thrilling story she relates. If the genius which 
in a solitary parsonage in Yorkshire conceived and wrote 
u Jane Eyre" could have had a further development and 
wider resources in London, there might have been a series 
of novels of equal excellence, and Charlotte Bronte would 
have become a great name. But her works, as well as her 
character and life, are deeply interesting to thousands ; and 
the journey to the bleak house at Haworth has become a 
pilgrimage. 

William Black writes novels which are like finished land- 
scapes, with human figures as accessories. The mountains, 
glens, and lakes of the North, and the desolate seas that lash 
the rocks of Ultima Thule, are the materials for his care- 
fully studied pictures. His people are interesting, but they 
are not strong or new creations ; and the constant recur- 
rence of familiar adventures makes his stories flag in inter- 
est. One story and one character remain in memory as fresh 
and as lovely as the dreams of youth, and that is " A Prin- 
cess of Thule." 

Anthony Trollopc, a writer of mediocre talent, was able 
by daily industry to produce a large number of novels, each 
quite resembling the other, all marked by good sense and 
shrewd observation, and none of them fatiguing the reader 
by demands on his perception or by shocks to his nerves, — 
a successful, kindly man, and useful to those who must have 
reading by the cubic foot, but leaving no work of individual 
or striking character. 

Wilkie Collins is another voluminous writer, who aims 
only at climax, and who excels all other novelists in the 
skill with which he constructs his plots. The secret is 
guarded well, and the reader is often deceived in believing 
he is just about to surprise it; but not until the last page 
does the true solution come. When the book has been read, 
that is the end of it. There are none of the rare qualities 
of thought or style to tempt one to go through it again, when 
its mystery has been revealed. 

Richard Blackmore has written a number of excellent 
long stories, somewhere between romances and novels, but 



582 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

rather too long drawn out, and cumbered with too many de- 
tails. It seems like hearing a fine story from a garrulous nar- 
rator, whom nothing will induce to move on with spirit. 
But "Lorna Doone" has a most singular fascination, giving 
one a dreamy sensation of remoteness, and it must be ranked 
among the very best of modern romances. 

Charles Kingsley has written some famous books, and, 
while they are professedly novels, it is evident that the story 
is less regarded by the author than the moral lessons they 
are to inculcate. As novels they are exceedingly faulty, ami 
even painful ; and yet no one ever found " Alton Locke " a 
dull or uninteresting book, because it is pervaded by the 
yearning and uplifting spirit of democracy in the soul of 
a lowly-born hero. " Hypatia," likewise, is valuable as a 
study of primitive Christianity. 

Disraeli, in his novels, as in his life and public career, was 
prodigal of gorgeous and theatrical effects, and concerned 
himself only with the fortunes of the few who are raised far 
above the common level by hereditary rank or enormous 
wealth. You are to take for granted that his people have 
undreamed-of resources, unheard-of luxuries, and superhuman 
talent. As you read you will discover that each brilliant 
personage is some w ell-known peer or prince; and, though 
there may be an upsetting of history and an absence of com- 
mon sense and human interest, yet you are pleased as hav- 
ing turned over a kaleidoscope whose colored stones are 
stars and royal orders. 

There have been several well-defined periods in English 
poetry in which certain individual modes of thought and ex- 
pression have prevailed. The plays and sonnets of Shake- 
speare have characteristics not to be mistaken ; there are to 
be seen abounding thought, unfettered imagination, and pic- 
turesque phrasing. In the time of the Stuarts there was 
less of luxuriance, less freedom, less irregularity. Dryden 
and Milton were the two great poets, both trained in classic 
schools, but differing greatly in genius and in results. Mil- 
ton appears to have been uninfluenced, either in poetry or 
prose, by the works of his contemporaries. Dryden used no 
variety of metres, except his odes and a few minor pieces, 
and was at his best, like a pedestrian, only in his accustomed 
gait. Epigrams, antitheses, and satiric thrusts were his 
strong points, and the heroic measure was his foot-rule. 
Milton's stately prose to-day is antiquated, while his poems, 



LATE ENGLISH LITERATURE. 583 

such as Conius and L' Allegro, are as fresh as Tennyson's. 
Dryden's prose appears free and natural, compared with 
Milton's, while his verse is becoming antiquated. 

The literature of the eighteenth century, commonly men- 
tioned as that of Queen Anne, was largely influenced by the 
genius of the French. New canons of criticism were set up, 
and new tastes prevailed. Shakespeare and Milton were 
decried and neglected. Dryden was still honored, but 
Pope was believed to be the greatest of English poets. 
The ten syllabled heroic line was the universal formula. 
Every poet, from graceful Goldsmith to ponderous Johnson, 
stepped to the same measure. They rhymed philosophy 
and ethics, satire and badinage, love, and religion, all on the 
same relentless plan. They tried to prune and regulate 
Shakespeare, and would have been pleased to rhyme the 
Pentateuch. 

This influence lasted long in England, and longer still in 
the United States. 

The real glory of the literature of Queen Anne was in the 
delightful, easy, and idiomatic prose of Addison and Steele. 
In the " Spectator" the richness and variety of our language 
were first clearly exemplified. The sentences flow so natu- 
rally that everyone thinks he could have written them; yet 
they are really inimitable. 

There came a reaction against the formal style of Pope, 
and against rhymed eloquence and logic as a substitute for 
poetry. It began with the romantic poems of Scott, and 
was continued by the songs of Moore and by the impassioned 
and magnificent stanzas of Byron. One earlier poet is, 
however, to be mentioned, — Cowper, who died in 1800. He 
was emancipated from the prevailing servitude to arbitrary 
form, and, by his unaffected style and sincere love of nature, 
anticipated in a measure the great movement which began 
with Wordsworth. 

Wordsworth is the intellectual and moral leader of the 
present century. His poems contain passages that seem to 
have been inspired like scripture. High-reaching thought, 
noble aim, adoration and love, exquisite beauty and simpli- 
city, are the characteristics of his best verse. It must be ad- 
mitted that much that he wrote is poor and prosy, common 
in thought, and bald in expression ; yet enough remains to 
entitle him to the first place since Milton, unless that belongs 
to Tennyson, whose merits, though so different, are perhaps 



584 GUEST*S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

equally great. Wordsworth's " Ode on the Intimations of 
Immortality," and Tennyson's "In Memoriam," are the most 
complete and best sustained poems written within two cen- 
turies. 

The fame of Coleridge rests upon a very few poems, but 
they are sufficient to give him a high place. " The Ancient 
Mariner" is a wonderful conception, and "Genevieve" con- 
tains a picture of the passion of love which will be pored 
over by generations. 

Shelley was a brilliant genius, apparently capable of the 
highest things. An electric force tingles in his lines, and 
his shaping hand made visible every form of natural and 
spiritual beauty. 

John Keats was almost an Oriental in his passion for sen- 
suous description. His "Endymion" is a perpetual delight, 
ami, when we consider at what an early age he died, we can 
imagine what heights he might have reached if his life had 
been spared. 

Robert Southey devoted himself mostly to strange stories 
in ungraceful forms, which have wholly faded from the 
memory of men. One or two short pieces preserve his 
name, while his complete works are seldom met with. 

Samuel Rogers had a dry and unsympathetic nature, and 
wrote like an imitator of the eighteenth-century poets. He 
is seldom quoted and but little read. 

Walter Savage Landor is the poet of scholars, perfect in 
details, clear and sure in every outline; yet his poems, want- 
ing the element of emotion, fail to stir the heart. 

Thomas Campbell wrote battle pieces and stirring lyrics, 
which are among the best in the language, but his longer 
poems do not sustain his contemporary reputation. 

Alfred Tennyson (now Baron Tennyson), as has been 
already stated, is one of the great poets. His youthful 
poems were dainty, ami perhaps effeminate, but he outgrew 
his early manner, and his subsequent productions have such 
distinguished merits that it is impossible to make a selection 
for comment. In his Arthurian legends he employed the 
vehicle of blank verse in such a marvellous way that it be- 
came almost the strongest feature of interest. Milton's 
blank verse is stately, sonorous, and grand ;• Tennyson's is 
strong and musical, as well as lithe and sinewy. How diffi- 
cult the mastery of blank verse really is may be known by 
the numberless failures. A few short specimens may be tol- 



LATE ENGLISH LITERATURE. 585 

erated in other poets, but only Milton and Tennyson have 
made it a natural expression of their respective modes of 
thought and feeling. 

" Grandly their thought rides the words, as a good horseman 
his steed." 

Tennyson is also famed for the delicacy, musical per- 
fection, and poetic suggestiveness of his minor lyrics. Those 
contained in " The Princess " have never been equalled by 
any poet of the English race, if by any of any race. 

Robert Browning is a man of rugged energy, ample re- 
sources, dramatic force, and strong imagination. But he is 
so sparing of words, and so covert in movement of mind, that 
it is a task of the utmost difficulty to follow the thread of 
his powerful stories. They require the keenest attention, 
and will never attract any but the most intellectual and 
determined readers. Mrs. Browning is, intellectually, a 
feminine copy of her virile husband, jiossessing much of 
his genius, and following his obscure manner. She must 
be mentioned as a woman of marked ability, but some- 
what overshadowed by her husband. 

Arthur Hugh Clough, who at one time resided in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., was a poet of delicate and meditative nature, 
and produced minor pieces of high merit. 

Jean Ingelow is a poet with a -warm heart and overflow- 
ing feeling, and has won an honorable name. " The High 
Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire " and " Seven Times One 
are Seven" are deservedly quoted and admired. 

Thomas Hood had capabilities which, if he had .been a man 
of fortune, would have led to higher results. But, being poor, 
he had to write for his daily wants, so that lie wrote much 
that is not of permanent value. His puns and quibbles are 
the best of their kind, and his comedy usually genial and 
agreeable. But his " Song of the Shirt," and the pathetic 
lament, " One more Unfortunate," are his best title to fame. 

We have only mentioned the principal poets. There are 
many more who have obtained more or less popularity, and 
some of whom high hopes have been entertained. Philip 
James Bailey was once considered a candidate for fame on 
the strength of his "Festus;" but the charm did not last, 
especially when it was seen that "Festus" was a poor copy 
of Goethe's " Faust." William Morris has better claim, for 
his poems " The Earthly Paradise " and " Jason " have genu- 



586 GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

ine merit ; but he has not learned the art of condensing, and 
his leaf of undoubted gold is beaten out too thin. Edwin 
Arnold has been widely known as the author of " The Light 
of Asia," and must have the credit of presenting the philos- 
ophy of Buddha in a fascinating way. But that poem is 
attractive for its Oriental cast of thought, and its serenity in 
view of the problem of death, and not for any marked 
beauty in execution. There are few quotable passages, and 
no finished lyrics such as enrich the works of great poets. 
The versification of Morris is bald and poor, and that of 
Bailey also. Tennyson's "Bugle Song" is as sure a proof 
of his genius as " In Memoriam." Arnold has written one 
short poem which is very striking, beginning, 

" He who died at Azan sends 
This to comfort all his friends."' etc. 

But Arnold shows, like the others, that the restraints of 
metre and rhyme are fetters to his Muse. He rhymes as he 
can, and not always as he would. A true poet not only has 
the poetic thought, but the power to mould it into shapes of 
beauty. That is why he is poet, or "maker." 

Dante Gabriel Rosetti is the author of sonnets and other 
minor poems which belong to the new school ; but he is not 
to be compared to Swinburne, either in fertility of thought 
or in the mastery of verse. 

What is to be the future of poetry, it is impossible to pre- 
dict. Some great genius may arise whose powerful influ- 
ence will change the course of thought, and set up new models 
for imitation. It does not appear that the school of sensuous 
poets will be strong enough to sway the coming century. 

Latterly a new school of poets has appeared. Their 
verses are farther than ever from the rules of the eighteenth 
century, but aim at the expression of melody rather than of 
startling thought. They scrutinize every word as to its pic- 
torial value, and with reference to its freedom from guttural 
and sibilant sounds. A huddle of consonants is to be 
avoided like brambles. A false or weak accent gives them 
a painful shock. Their verses have a musical flow, like a 
gurgling brook. They aim to reproduce the effects of the 
singing bards, simple thought and affluent melody in every 
line. Even the refinement of Tennyson is coarse to them. 
Chief of these is Algernon Swinburne, who in some in- 
stances has shown that the loveliest words in daintiest metres 



LATE ENGLISH LITEBATtTRE. 587 

may cover thoughts whose sensuality would be shocking if 
divested of their poetic drapery. Swinburne, in culture and 
feeling, is a Greek, and should be imagined as clad in singing 
robes, with cithara in hand, and laurel-crowned. " Atalanta 
in Kalydon," a poem in blank verse, with occasional rhymed 
passages in various metres, is a remarkable production, ex- 
quisite in phrase, antique in spirit, and steeped in the love 
of beauty. 



CONCLUSION. 

Religious Liberty in England. The Progress of Reform. The Irish Problem. 
English Inventions. Education. The Future. 

In regard to the history of the last fifty years, we know 
at once too much and too little. We can only chronicle 
events. We cannot tell yet with any certainty which of 
the innumerable facts and measures will greatly affect the 
future, and which of them were merely important in the 
opinion of contemporary men. There have been many ob- 
viously important changes. 

The English have learned the value of religious liberty, 
and the injustice and folly of religious persecution. As has 
been mentioned, the Test and Corporation Acts have been 
repealed, and men of any religious belief are qualified to 
hold municipal offices. Roman Catholics were permitted in 
1829 to enter Parliament without taking oaths repugnant to 
conscience. Jews were admitted to Parliament in 1859. 
Dissenters and Catholics later were admitted to the univer- 
sities on equal terms with members of the Established Church. 
At each of these changes there was great excitement, and 
many people believed they would result in danger to the 
national welfare. But why should Catholics or Dissenters 
enter into conspiracies? They have liberty, protection, and 
respect. They have a share in the government, and, natu- 
rally, they love their country better now than when they 
were repressed and ill-treated. 

In political matters, too, as well as religious, England has 
gone on strengthening and widening the constitution by 
reform bills, — laws for enabling more and more- of the 
people of the country to vote for members of Parliament ; 
giving them a voice in laving on the taxes they will have to 
pay, and in making the laws they will have to obey. The 
evil condition of the House of Commons was mentioned 
before, and the unfair way in which members were elected. 
Both the Earl of Chatham and his son, William Pitt, had 

588 



CONCLUSION. 589 

seen how necessary it was to reform all this ; to take away 
the "franchise," as it is called, or the right of sending rep- 
resentatives to Parliament, from the wretched little villages 
with few or no inhabitants, and to give it to large and pop- 
ulous places which sent none. But they were never able to 
achieve it ; it was not till long after they were both dead 
that the great Reform Bill was passed. These reforms caused 
a great deal of commotion. The people were bent upon 
having their rights, but the Conservative government, afraid 
of what they might do if they once got them, held back. 
Then the people broke out into riots, and frightened them 
still more. It is worthy of notice that in these conflicts the 
principal nobles who had possession of the miserable little 
"rotten boroughs" before described, and who had most of 
the unfair power in electing the members of Parliament, 
were among the very first to see how unjust these privileges 
and powers were, and were among the greatest promoters 
of the rights of the people ; while some of those who had 
begun by being poor men, but who had risen by their talents 
and industry to be powerful noblemen, were the most obsti- 
nate opponents of all reform. 

After the passing of the Reform Bill, the Conservatives 
were greatly afraid of what might be done by the new Par- 
liament, which was really elected by the people, instead of 
only partly by them, and partly by the nobles and the gov- 
ernment. They thought there would be a revolution, but 
they were mistaken ; instead of becoming more rebellious 
when they had got justice, the people became peaceable, 
obedient, and law-abiding. 

The saddest part of all English history is that which re- 
cords the treatment of Ireland. From the days of Henry II. 
onward to the days of Elizabeth, when Spenser wrote of that 
" most beautiful and sweet country as any under heaven ; " 
from the days of Elizabeth almost to our own days, we 
might still say, as he did, "I do much pity that sweet land, 
to be subject to so many evils, as every day I see more and 
more thrown upon her." It has almost always been, " Ire- 
land was in disorder; Ireland was rebelling." People do 
not, as a rule, rebel when they are happy and well treated ; 
and when we read this over and over again we naturally 
ask, Why? Unhappily the answer is not far to seek. 
That the Irish were wild and turbulent, and often treacher- 
ous and cruel, is undeniable; but that the English were 



590 GUEST'S ENGLISH H1STOKY. 

tyrannical, oppressive, and unjust, is quite as undeniable. 
Ireland was said to have been united to England in 1801 ; it 
ceased to have its own Parliament, and instead sent mem- 
bers to the English Parliament. But the union was really 
disunion, and the Irish, if possible, hated the English still 
more than before. England has now for many years past 
striven to undo her evil work of old. She has disendowed 
the Protestant Church, which was not the church of the 
people, but had been violently forced upon them, and she 
has sought in every way to do justice, and promote the 
peace and welfare of the country; but though England has 
now quite ceased to oppress, Ireland has not yet forgotten 
her old oppression, and the " United Kingdom " is not so 
thoroughly "at unity with itself" as it may be as time 
rolls on. 

One of the most important changes that has been made for 
the good of the whole kingdom is the repeal of the corn 
laws. According to the ideas which had prevailed up till 
this time, Englishmen were bound to have no corn, or as 
little as possible, except what their own land could produce. 
This was considered to be good, not only for the farmers 
and landlords, but for the whole country ; and it was said 
that if corn was brought from foreign parts the country 
would become dependent on those Darts. But as England 
is a small country compared with its population, it could not 
produce corn enough to feed them all. Bread was some- 
times so dear that the poor were half starving; while other 
countries had a great deal more corn than they wanted, 
which they would have been glad to exchange for other 
things which England produced. The Conservatives were 
averse to making any change, but there were zealous and 
wise men in the country who saw that it would be right, 
and determined that it must be done. 

Another great change has come from the invention or im- 
proving of machinery and the steam-engine. Innumerable 
things which used to be done by hand are now done by ma- 
chines. This seems as if it must save a great deal of human 
labor, and produce a great many more useful things ; and so 
it certainly does ; but whether the change is, on the whole, for 
the happiness and improvement of man, no one can now say. 
Work that used to be done quietly at home — a woman spin- 
ning at her door, a man weaving at his own little loom — 
work, too, in which the workers might take an honest pride 



CONCLUSION. 591 

and pleasure — is now done in enormous factories, where peo- 
ple are gathered together for their long day's labor ; men 
here, women there, children elsewhere. This must certainly 
have a great effect on their characters and thoughts ; but we 
cannot yet judge what that effect will be. 

A still greater change is in the spread of education. Ever 
since the beginning of this century the different religious 
bodies, the Church and the Dissenters, had founded schools 
for the poor ; and though this was thought at first by many 
people a very wrong and dangerous thing to do, it is now 
felt by everybody to be a duty. The government first began 
by helping the schools which had been founded by voluntary 
efforts; more lately school boards have been established, 
Avhich build other schools when those already in a neighbor- 
hood do not suffice, and which also employ people to look 
for the little wild children of the streets, and compel them to 
come in. Here is indeed a contrast to the old days when a 
serf was hindered from having his child taught to read or 
write! What the result will be, no one can foretell. We are 
sure that as the life which surrounds a man will be different 
from that which surrounded his grandfather, so will he him- 
self be different in his thoughts and hope from the thoughts 
and hope of his grandfather. 

We may be almost certain that as he is more educated he 
will be more gentle. Looking back on the past, we .see the 
gradual growth of sympathy, which will surely not cease to 
grow. In former days the rich and noble looked with eare- 
less scorn on the poor of their own land; they were "ras- 
cals," "villeins," bought and sold like horses and sheep. In 
former days the Englishman hated all foreigners, looking on 
them as his natural enemies, and always longing to be light- 
ing them. The races of men which he considered, or which, 
perhaps, really were inferior to his own, he despised, and 
treated as hardly human. The American Indians were 
" tawny pagans," " grim salvages," and " rabid wolves." it 
was no more sin to kill an Irishman than to kill a dog; no 
more wrong to enslave a negro than to yoke an ox. Against 
men of other religions his scorn and hatred went hand in 
hand. It was a glorious deed to slay a Turk or a Jew; it 
was doing God service to burn a Protestant or mutilate a 
Puritan. The lower animals had neither lights nor claims; 
they were mere tools, to be worn out in working for man, 
or tortured for his amusement. 



™ GUEST'S ENGLISH HISTORY. 

That all this is history now, that it has all vanished out of 
our daily life and thoughts, we can hardly dare to say ; but 
that it is passing away, and that much of it has already 
passed away, we are quite sure. If it were not so, we 
should be ready to say in despair, « Then has Christ died in 
vain 1 he struggle is still going on between selfishness 

'"I i 0V Jf * „ ? 1S t or the P eo P le of England to determine 
which shall have the victory. 



CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS 



ENGLISH HISTORY. 



THE ENGLISH KINGDOMS. 



449—1016. 



449 English land in Britain. 

457 Kent conquered by English. 

477 Landing of South Saxons. 

495 Landing of West Saxons. 

520 British victory at Mount Badon. 

547 Ida founds Kingdom of Bernicia. 

552 West Saxons take Old Sarum. 

565 jEthelberht, King of Kent, died 

616. 

568 driven back by West Saxons. 

571 West Saxons march into Mid-Britain. 

577 conquer at Deorham. 

593 iEthelfrith creates Kingdom of 

Northumbria, died 617. 
597 West Saxons defeated at Fethanlea. 

A iignstine converts Kent. 
603 Battle of Daegsastan. 
607 Battle of Chester. 
617 Eadwine, King of Northumbria, 

died 633. 

626 overlord of Britain. 

627 becomes Christian. 

633 slain at Hatfield. 

635 Oswald, King of Northumbria, died 
642. 

defeats Welsh at Hevenfeld. 

635 A idan settles at Holy Island. 
639 Conversion of Wessex. 
642 Oswald slain at Maserfeld. 
655 Oswi, King of Northumbria, died 
670. 
Oswi's victory at Winwced. 

657 Wulfere King in Mercia. 

658 West Saxons conquer as far as the 

Parret. 

664 Council of Whitby. 
Ceedinon at Whitby. 

668 Theodore made Archbishop of Can- 
terbury. 

670 Egfrith, King of Northumbria, died 
685. 

076 Wulfere drives West Saxons over 
Thames. 

C81 Wilfrid converts South Saxons 



682 Centwine of Wessex conquers Mid- 
Somerset. 

685 Egfrith defeated and slain at Nech- 
tansmere. 

688 Ini, King of West Saxons, died 726. 

705 Northumbrian conquest of Strath- 
clyde. 

714 Ini defeats Ceolred of Mercia at 
Wodnesborough. 

716 j*Ethelbald, King of Mercia, died 755. 

733 Mercian conquest of Wessex. 

752 Wessex recovers freedom in battle of 
Burford. 

755 Deaths of Bti-da and Boniface. 

756 Eadberht of Northumbria takes Al- 

cluyd. 
758 Offa, King of Mercia, died 794. 

773 subdues Kentish men at Otford. 

777 defeats West Saxons at Bensing- 

ton. 
784 places Brightric on throne of 

Wessex. 

786 creates Archbishopric at Lichfield. 

787 First landing of Danes in England. 
794 Cenwulf, King of Mercia, died 819. 

suppresses Archbishopric of Lich- 
field. 

800 Ecgberht becomes king in Wessex, 
died S36. 

808 Charles the Great restores Eardwulf 
in Northumbria. 

813 Ecgberht subdues the West Welsh to 
the Tamar. 

822 Civil War in Mercia. 

823 Ecgberht defeats Mercians at Elian- 

dune. 
Ecgberht overlord of England south 
of Thames. 

824 Revolt of East Anglia against Mercia. 

825 Defeat of Mercians by East Anglians. 
827 Mercia and Northumbria submit to 

Ecgberht. 
Ecgberht overlord of all English king- 
doms. 



593 



594 



GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 



828 invades Wales. 

835 defeats Danes at Hengestesdun. 

836 iEthelwulf, King of Wessex, died 858. 
849 /Elfred born. 

851 Danes defeated at Aclea. 

853 Alfred sent to Rome. 

855 .Ethelwulf goes to Rome. 

858 /Ethelbald, King of Wessex, died 860. 

860 iEthelberht, King of Wessex, died 

866. 
855 jEthelred, King of Wessex, died 871. 
867 Danes conquer Northumbria. 
858 Peace of Nottingham with Danes. 

870 Danes conquer and settle in East 

Anglia. 

871 Danes invade Wessex. 

/Elfred, King of Wessex, died 901. 
874 Danes conquer JNIercia. 

876 Danes settle in Northumbria. 

877 /Elfred defeats Danes at Exeter. 

878 Danes overrun Wessex. 
^Elfred victor at Edington. 
Peace of Wedmore. 

883 /Elfred sends envoys to Rome and 

India. 
886 takes and refortifies London. 

893 Danes re-appear in Thames and Kent. 

894 /Elfred drives Hastings from Wessex. 

895 Hastings invades Mercia. 

896 ./Elfred drives Danes from Essex. 

897 Hastings quits England. 
^Elfred creates a fleet. 

901 Eadward the Elder, died 925. 
912 Northmen settle in Normandy. 



913-918 .Ethelflaed conquers Danish Mer- 
cia. 

921 Eadward subdues East Anglia and 
Essex. 

g24 owned as overlord by Northum- 
bria, Scots, and Strathclyde. 

925 /Ethelstan, died 940. 

926 drives Welsh from Exeter. 

934 invades Scotland. 

937 Victory of Brunanburh. 

g40 Eadmund, died 947. 

943 Dunstan made Abbot of Glastonbury. 

945 Cumberland granted to Malcolm, 

King of Scots. 
g47 Eadred, died 955. 

954 makes Northumbria an Earl- 
dom. 

955 Eadwig, died 957. 

g5& Banishment of Dunstan. 

g57 Revolt of Mercia under Eadgar. 

958 Eadgar, died 975. 

goi Dunstan Archbishop of Canterbury. 

g75 Eadward the Martyr, died 975. 

g79 /Ethelred the Unready, died 1016. 

g8o Mercia and Northumbria part from 

Wessex. 
987-1040 Fulc the Black, Count of Anjou. 
994 Invasion of Swegen. 

1002 Massacre of Danes. 

1003 Swegen harries Wessex. 

1012 Murder of Archbishop /Elfeah. 

1013 All England submits to Swegen. 

1014 Flight of /Ethelred to Normandy. 
1016 Eadmund Ironside, King, and dies. 



ENGLAND UNDER FOREIGN KINGS. 



101T — 1204. 



1017 Cnut, King, died 1035. 

1020 Godwine made Earl of Wessex. 

1027 Cnut goes to Rome. 

Birth of William of Normandy. 
1035 Harold and Harthacnut divide Eng- 
land. 
1037 Harold, King, died 1040. 
1040 Harthacnut, King, died 1042. 
1042 Eadward the Confessor, died 1065. 
1044-1060 ( jeoffry Martel, Count of Anjou. 
1045 Lanfranc at Bee. 
1047 Victory of William at Val-es-dunes. 

1051 Banishment of Godwine. 

1052 William of Normandy visits England. 
Return and death of Godwine. 

1053 Harold made Earl of West Saxons. 

1054 William's victory at Mortemer. 
1054-1060 Norman conquest of southern 

Italy. 

1055 Harold's first campaign in Wales. 
1058 William's victory at the Dive. 
1060 Normans invade Sicily. 

1063 Harold conquers Wales. 
io56 Harold, King. 

conquers at Stamford Bridge. 

- — defeated at Senlac, or Hastings, 



1066 

1068- 
1070 
1075 
1081 
1085 
1086 
1087 
1093 
1094 

1096 

1097 

iog8 

1 100 

1 1 01 
1106 



William of Normandy, King, died 
1087. 

1071 Norman conquest of England. 

Reorganization of the Church. 

Rising of Roger Fitz-Osbern. 

William invades Wales. 

Failure of Danish invasion. 

Completion of Domesday Book. 

William the Red, died 1100. 

A nselm A rchbishop. 

Revolt of Wales against the Norman 
Marchers. 

Revolt of Robert de Mowbray. 

Normandy left in pledge to William. 

William invades Wales. 

Anselm leaves England. 

War with France. 

Henry the First, died 1135. 

Henry's Charter. 

William of Normandy invades Eng- 
land. 

Settlement of question of investi- 
tures. 

English Conquest of Normandy. 
-1129 Fulc of Jerusalem, Count of 
Anjou. 



CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS. 



595 



nog War with France, 
mi War with Anjou. 

1 1 13 Peace of Gisors. 

1 1 14 Marriage of Matilda with Henry V. 
1 118 Revolt of Norman baronage. 

1 120 Wreck of White Ship. 
1 1 22 Henry's campaign in Wales. 
1 124 France and Anjou support William 
Clito. 

1127 Matilda married to Geoffry of Anjou. 

1 128 Death of the Clito in Flanders. 

1134 Revolt of Wales. 

1 135 Stephen of Blois, died 1154. 

11 37 Normandy repulses the Angevins. 
Revolt of Earl Robert. 

1 138 Battle of the Standard. 

1 139 Seizure of the Bishops. 
1 141 Battle of Lincoln. 

1 147 Matilda withdraws to Normandy. 

1 148 Henry of Anjou in England. 
Archbishop Theobald driven into 

exile. 

1151 Henry becomes Duke of Normandy. 

1 152 Henry marries Eleanor of Guienne. 

1 153 Henry in England. Treaty of Wal- 

lingford. 

1 154 Henry the Second, died 1189. 



1160 Expedition against Toulouse. 

The Great Scutage. 
1162 Thomas made Archbishop of Can- 
terbury. 
1 164 Constitutions of Clarendon. 

Flight of Archbishop Thomas. 
1 166 Assize of Clarendon. 

1169 Strongbow's invasion of Ireland. 

1170 Death of Archbishop Thomas. 
Inquest of Sheriffs. 

1174 Rebellion of Henry's sons. 
1176 Assize of Northampton. 
1178 Reorganization of Curia Regis. 
1 181 Assize of Anns. 
1189 Revolt of Richard. 

Richard the First, died 1199. 
1190-1194 Richard's Crusade. 
1194-1196 War with Philip Augustus. 
1195-1246 Llewellyn-ap-Jorwerth in North 

Wales. 
1197 Richard builds Chateau Gaillard. 

1199 John, died 1216. 

1200 recovers Anjou and Maine. 

Layamon writes the Brut. 

1203 Murder of Arthur. 

1204 French conquest of Anjou and Nor- 

mandy. 



THE GREAT CHARTER. 



1305 — 1395. 



1205 Barons refuse to fight for recovery 

of Normandy. 
1208 Innocent III. puts England under 

Interdict. 

1211 John reduces Llewellyn-ap-Jorwerth 

to submission. 

1212 John divides Irish Pale into counties. 

1213 John becomes the Pope's vassal. 

1214 Battle of Bouvines. 
Birth of Roger Bacon. 

1215 The Great Charter. 

1216 Lewis of France called in by the 

Barons. 
Henry the Third, died 1273. 
Confirmation of the Charter. 

1217 Lewis returns to France. 
Hubert de Burgh, Justiciary. 
Charter again confirmed. 

1 22 1 Friars land in England. 

1223 Charter again confirmed at Oxford. 

1225 Irish confirmation of Charter. 

1228 Revolt of Faukes de Breaute. 
Stephen Langton's death. 

1229 Papal exactions. 

1230 Failure of Henry's campaign in Poi- 

tou. 

1231 Conspiracy against the Italian clergv. 

1232 Fall of Hubert de Burgh. 

1237 Charter again confirmed. 

1238 Earl Simon of Leicester marries 

Henry's sister. 

1241 Defeat of Henry at Taillebourg. 

1242 Barons refuse subsidies. 
1246-1283 Llewellyn-ap-Gryffyth, Prince 

in North Wales. 



1248 

1253 
1259 
1 261 
1264 

1265 



1267 

1268 

1270 
1274 
1277 

1279 
1282 
1284 
1285 
1290 

I2gi 
1293 
1294 
"95 



Irish refusal of subsidies. 

Earl Simon in Gascony. 

Earl Simon returns to England. 

Provisions of Oxford. 

Earl Simon leaves England. 

Mise of Amiens. 

Battle of Lewes. 

Commons summoned to Parlia- 
ment. 

Battle of Evesham. 

Roger Bacon writes his " Opus 
Jllajus." 

Llewellyn-ap-Gryffyth owned as 
Prince of Wales. 

Edward goes on Crusade. 

Edward the First, died 1307. 

Edward reduces Llewellyn-ap-Gryf- 
fyth to submission. 

Statute of Mortmain. 

Conquest of Wales. 

Statute of Merchants. 

Statute of Winchester. 

Statute " Quia Emptores." 

Expulsion of the Jews. 

Marriage Treaty of Brigham. 

Parliament at Norham settles Scotch 
succession. 

Edward claims appeals from Scot- 
land. 

Seizure of Guienne by Philip of 
France. 

French fleet attacks Dover. 

Final organization of the English 
Parliament. 



596 



GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 



THE WARS WITH SCOTLAND AND FRANCE. 



1296—1485. 



I2g6 Edward conquers Scotland. 
1297 Victory of Wallace at Stirling. 

Outlawry of the Clergy. 

Barons refuse to serve in Flanders. 
I2g8 Edward forced to renounce illegal 
taxation. 

Edward conquers Scots at Falkirk. 

Peace with F ranee. 

1301 Barons demand nomination of Min- 

isters by Parliament. 

1302 Barons exact fresh confirmations of 

the Charters. 

1304 Final submission of Scotland. 

1305 Parliament of Perth. 

1306 Rising of Robert Bruce. 

1307 Parliament of Carlisle. First Statute 

of Provisors. 
Edward the Second, died 1327. 

1308 Gaveston exiled. 

1310 The Lords Ordainers draw up Arti- 
cles of Reform. 
1312 Death of Gaveston. 
1314 Battle of Bannockburn. 
1316 Battle of Athenry. 
1318 Edward accepts the Ordinances. 

1322 Death of Earl of Leicester. Ordi- 

nances annulled. 

1323 Truce with the Scots. 

1324 French attack Aquitaine. 

1325 The Queen and Prince Edward in 

France. 

1326 Queen lands in England. 

1327 Deposition of Edward II. 
Edward the Third, died 1377. 

1328 Treaty of Northampton recognizes 

independence of Scotland. 

1329 Death of Robert Bruce. 

1330 Death of Roger Mortimer. 

1332 Edward Balliol invades Scotland. 

1333 Battle of Halidon Hill. 
Balliol does homage to Edward. 

*334 Balliol driven from Scotland. 
I 335 _I 336 Edward invades Scotland. 
1336 Fiance again declares war. 
1337-1338 War with France and Scotland. 

1339 Edward claims crown of France. 
Edward attacks France from Bra- 
bant. 

1340 Battle of Sluys. 

1343 War in Brittany and Guienne. 

1346 Battles of Cressy and Neville's Cross. 

1347 Capture of Calais. 
Truce with France. 

1349 First appearance of the Black Death. 
I 35 I_I 353 Statutes of Laborers. 

1353 First Statute of Praemunire. 

1354 Renewal of French war. 
1356 Battle of Poitiers. 

1360 Treaty of Bretigny. 
1367 The Black Prince victorious at Na- 
jara. 
Statute of Kilkennv. \ 



1363 Renewal of French war. 

// >( hy's treatise "De Dotnitiio." 
1370 Storms of Limoges. 
1372 Victory of Spanish fleet off Rochelle. 
1374 Revolt of Aquitaine. 

1376 The Good Parliament. 

1377 Its work undone by the Duke of 

Lancaster. 

Wyclif before the Bishops of Lon- 
don. 

Richard the Second, died 1399. 

1378 Gregory XL denounces Wycfif's 

heresy. 

1380 L onglantvs "Piers the Ploughman. ' ' 

1381 Wyclif's declaration against Tran- 

substantiation. 
The Peasant Revolt. 

1382 Condemnation of Wyclif at Black- 

friars. 
Suppression of the Poor Preachers. 
1384 Death of Wyclif. 
1387 Barons force Richard to dismiss the 

Earl of Suffolk. 
1389 Truce with France. 
1394 Richard in Ireland. 

1396 Richard marries Isabella of France. 
Truce with, prolonged. 

1397 Murder of the Duke of Gloucester. 

1398 Richard's plans of tyranny. 

1399 Deposition of Richard. 
Henry the Fourth, died 1413. 

1400 Revolt of Owen Glendower in Wales. 

1401 Statute of Heretics. 

1402 Battle of Homildon Hill. 

1403 Revolt of the Perries. 

1404 French descents on England, 

1405 Revolt of Archbishop Scrope. 
1407 French attack Gascony. 

1411 English force sent to aid Duke of 
Burgundy in France. 

1413 Henry the Fifth, died 1422. 

1414 Lollard Conspiracy. 

1415 Battle of Agincourt. 

1417 Henry invades Normandy. 

1419 Alliance with Duke of Burgundy. 

1420 Treaty of Troyes. 

1422 Henry the Sixth, died 1471. 
1424 Battle of Verneuil. 

1429 Siege of Orleans. 

1430 County Suffrage restricted. 

1431 Death of Joan of Arc. 
1435 Congress of Arras. 

1444 Marriage of Margaret of Anjou. 
1447 Death of Duke of Gloucester. 

1450 Impeachment and death of Duke of 

Suffolk. 
Cade's Insurrection. 

1451 Loss of Normandy and Guienne. 

1454 Duke of York named Protector. 

1455 First battle of St. Albans. 

1456 End of York's Protectorate. 
1459 Failure of Yorkist revolt. 



CHRONOLOGICAL AXXALS. 



597 



1460 Battle of Northampton. 

York acknowledged as successor. 
Battle of Wakefield. 

1461 Second battle of St. Albans. 
Battle of Mortimer's Cross. 
Edward the Fourth, died 1484. 
Battle of Towton. 

1464 Edward marries Lady Grey. 
1470 Warwick driven to France. 



1470 Flight of Edward to Burgundy. 

1471 Battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury. 

1475 Edward invades Fsance. 

1476 Caxlon settles in England. 
1483 Murder of Edward the Fifth. 

Richard the Third, died 1485. 
Buckingham's insurrection. 
1485 Battle of Bosworth. 



THE TUDORS. 



1485 — 1603. 



1485 Henry the Seventh, died 1509. 
1487 Conspiracy of Lambert Simnel. 
1489 Treaty with Ferdinand and Isabella. 
I4gi Henry invades France. 

1496 Cornish Rebellion. 
Perkin Warbeck captured. 

1497 Sebastian Cabot lands in America. 
1499 Colet and Erasmus at Oxford. 

1501 Arthur Tudor marries Catharine of 

Aragon. 

1502 Margaret Tudor marries James the 

Fourth. 
1505 Colet Dean of St. Paul's. 
1509 Henry the Eighth, died 1547. 

Erasmus ivrites the "Praise of 
Folly." 

1512 War with France. Colet founds St. 

Paid's School. 

1513 Battles of the Spurs and of Flodden. 
Wolsey becomes chief Minister. 

1516 Store's "Utopia.'- 

1517 Luther denounces Indulgences. 

1519 Field of Cloth of Gold. 

1520 Luther burns the Pope's Bull. 

1521 Quarrel of Luther with Henrv the 

Eighth. 

1522 Renewal of French War. 

1523 Wolsey quarrels with the Commons. 

1524 Exaction of Benevolences defeated. 

1525 Peace with France. Tyudal trans- 

lates tlie Bible. 

1527 Henry resolves on a Divorce. Per- 
secution of Protestants. 

1529 Fall of Wolsey. Ministry of Nor- 
folk and More. 

1531 King acknowledged as "Supreme 

Head of the Church of Eng- 
land."' 

1532 Statute of Appeals. Anne Boleyn 

crowned. 
1534 Acts of Supremacy and Succession. 
J 535 Cromwell Vicar-General. Death of 
More. 
Overthrow of the Geraldines in Ire- 
land. 
1536 English Bible issued. 

Dissolution of lesser Monasteries. 
'537 Pilgrimage of Grace. 

1538 Execution of Lord Exeter and Lady 

Salisbury. 

1539 Law of Six Articles. 
Suppression of greater Abbevs, 



1542 



1543 
1547 



1543 
1549 

1551 
1552 
1553 

1554 

1555 
1556 
1557 
1558 
1559 



1560 
1561 
1562 



1563 



1565 
1566 

1567 

1568 
1569 
I57i 
1572 



1575 
1576 



Completion of the Tudor Conquest 
of Ireland. 

Fall of Cromwell. 

Execution of Earl of Surrey. 

Edward the Sixth, died 1553. 

Battle of Pinkie Cleugh. 

English Book of Common Prayer. 

Western Rebellion. End of Somer- 
set's Protectorate. 

Death of Somerset. 

Suppression of Chantries. 

Mary, died 1559. 

Chancellor discovers Archangel. 

Mary marries Philip of Spain. 

England absolved by Cardinal Pole. 

Persecution of Protestants begins. 

Burning of Archbishop Cranmer. 

War with France. 

Loss of Calais. 

Elizabeth, died 1603. 

restores Royal Supremacy and 

English Prayer-book. 

War in Scotland. 

Mary Stuart lands in Scotland. 

Rebellion of Shane O'Neill in Ulster. 

Elizabeth supports French Hugue- 
nots. 

First Penal Statute against Catho- 
lics, and first Poor Law. 

Hawkins begins Slave-trade with 
Africa. 

English driven out of Havre. 

Thirty-nine Articles imposed on 
clergy. 

Mary marries Darnley. 

Darnley murders Rizzio. 

Royal Exchange built. 

Bothwell murders Darnley. 

Defeat and death of Shane O'Neill. 

Mary flies to England. 

Revolt of the northern Earls. 

Bull of Deposition issued. 

Conspiracy and death of Norfolk. 

Rising of the Low Countries against 
Alva. 

Cartwright's " Admonition to the 
Parliament." 

Wentworth sent to the Tower. 

First public Theatre in Blackfri- 
ars. 

Landing of the Seminary Priests. 

Drake sets sail for the Pacific. 



59 8 



GUESTS ENGLISH HISTORY. 



1578 Lyly's " Euplutes." 
x 579 Spenser publishes " Sliepherd's Cal- 
endar. ' ' 
1580 Campian and Parsons in England. 
Revolt of the Desmonds. Massacre 
of Smerwick. 

1583 Plots to assassinate Elizabeth. 
New powers given to Ecclesiastical 

Commission. 

1584 Murder of Prince of Orange. 
Armada gathers in the Tagus. 
Colonization of Virginia. 

1585 English army sent to Netherlands. 
Drake on the Spanish Coast. 

1586 Battle of Zutphen. 
Babington's Plot. 
Shakespeare in London. 

1587 Death of Mary Stuart. 

Drake burns Spanish fleet at Cadiz. 



1587 Marlowe's 11 Tamburlainey 

1588 Defeat of the Armada. 
Martin Mar prelate Tracts. 

1589 Drake plunders Corunna. 

1590 Publication of lite "Faerie Queene." 

1593 Shakespeare s" I 'enus and A don is. 

1594 Hooker's " Ecclesiastical Polity." 

1596 Jousou's " Ez>ery Man in his Hu- 

mor" 
Descent upon Cadiz. 

1597 Ruin of the Second Armada. 
Bacon's " Essays." 

1598 Revolt of Hugh O'Neill. 

1599 Expedition of Earl of Essex in Ire- 

land. 
1601 Execution of Essex. 
1603 Mountjoy completes the Conquest of 
Ireland. 
Death of Elizabeth. 



T H E S T U A R T S. 



1603 — 1688. 



1603 James the First, died 1625. 
.Millenary Petition. 

1604 Parliament claims to deal with both 

Church and State. 
Hampton Court Conference. 

1605 Gunpowder Plot. 

Bacon's "Advancement of Lear n- 

1610 Parliament's Petition of Grievances. 

Plantation of Ulster. 
i5i3 Marriage of the Elector Palatine. 

1614 First quarrels with the Parliament. 

1615 Trial of the Earl of Somerset. 
Disgrace of Chief Justice Coke. 
Sale of Peerages. 

Proposals for the Spanish Marriage. 

1616 Death of Shakespeare. 

1617 Bacon Lord Keeper. 
Expedition and death of Raleigh. 
The Declaration of Sports. 

1618 Beginning of Thirty Years' War, 

1620 Invasion of the Palatinate. 
Bacon's "Novum Organum." 
Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in 

New England. 
Impeachment of Bacon. 

1621 James tears out the Protestation of 

the Commons. 

1623 Journey of Charles to Madrid. 

1624 Resolve of War against Spain. 

1625 Charles the First, died 1649. 
First Parliament dissolved. 
Failure of expedition against Cadiz. 

1626 Buckingham impeached 
Second Parliament dissolved. 

1627 Levy of Benevolences and Forced 

Loan. 
Failure of Expedition to Rochelle. 

1628 The Petition of Right. 
Murder of Buckingham. 
Laud Bishop of London. 

1629 Dissolution of Third Parliament, 



1629 Charter granted to Massachusetts. 
Wentworth Lord President of the 

North. 

1630 Puritan Emigration to New England. 

1631 Wentworth Lord Deputy in Ireland. 

1633 Laud Archbishop of Canterbury* 
Milton's "Allegro" and " Pense- 

roso. ' ' 
Prynne's " Histriomastix." 

1634 Milton's " Comus." 

1636 luxcm Lord Treasurer. 

l'x.oknf Canons and Common Prayer 
issued for Scotland. 

1637 Hampden refuses to pay Ship-money. 
Revolt of Edinburgh. 

Trial of Hampden. 

1638 Milton's " Lycidas" 
The Scotch Covenant. 

1639 Leslie at Dunse Law. 
Pacification of Berwick. 

1640 The Short Parliament. 
The Bishops' War. 

Great Council of Peers at York. 
Long Parliament meets, Nov. 

1641 Execution of Strafford, May. 
Charles visits Scotland. 

The Irish Massacre, Oct. 

The Grand Remonstrance, Nov. 

1642 Impeachment of Five Members,//!//. 
Charles before Hull, April. 
Royalists withdraw from Parliament. 
Charles raises Standard at Notting- 
ham, Aug: 

Battle of Edgehill. Oct. 23. 
Hobbes -writes the " De Cive." 

1643 Assembly of Divines assembles at 

Westminster. 
Rising of the Cornishmen, May. 
Death of Hampden, June. 
Battle of Roundway Down, July. 
Siege of Gloucester, Aug. 
Taking of the Covenant, Sept. 23. 



CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS. 



599 



1644 Fight at Cropredy Bridge, June. 
Battle of Marston Moor,/«/y. 
Surrender of Parliamentary Army in 

Cornwall, Sept. 
Battle of Tippermuir, Sept. 
Battle of Newbury, Oct. 

1645 Self-renouncing Ordinance, Apr//. 
New Model raised. 

Battle of Nasebv, ./««<? 14. 
Battle of Philipliaugh, Sept. 

1646 Charles surrenders to the Scots, May. 

1647 Scots surrender Charles to the 

Houses, Feb. 
Army elects Adjutators, April. 
The King seized at Holmby House, 

June. 
" Humble Representation " of the 

Army, Jwie. 
Expulsion of the Eleven Members. 
Army occupies London, Aug. 
Flight of the King, Nov. 
Secret Treaty of Charles with the 

Scots, Dec. 

1648 Outbreak of the Royalist Revolt, Feb. 
Revolt of the Fleet, and of Kent, 

May. 
Fairfax and Cromwell in Essex and 

Wales, June-July. 
Battle of Preston, Aug. 18. 
Surrender of Colchester, Aug. 27. 
Pride's Purge, Dec. 
Royal Society begins at Oxford. 

1649 Execution of Charles I., Jan. 30. 
Scotland proclaims Charles II. 
England proclaims itself a Common- 
wealth. 

Cromwell storms Drogheda, Aug. 

1650 Cromwell enters Scotland, May. 
Battle of Dunbar, Sept. 3. 

1651 Battle of Worcester, Sept. 3. 
Union with Scotland and Ireland. 
Hobbes's "Leviathan." 

1652 Outbreak of Dutch War, May. 
Victory of Van Tromp, Nov. 

1653 Victory of Blake, Feb. 

Cromwell drives out the Parliament, 

April 19. 
Constituent Convention (Barebones 

Parliament), July. 
Convention dissolves, Dec. 

1654 The Instrument of Government. 
Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protec- 
tor, died 1658. 

Peace concluded with Holland. 
First Protectorate Parliament, Sept. 

1655 Dissolution of the Parliament, Jan. 
The Major-Generals. 
Settlement of Scotland and Ireland. 
Settlement of the Church. 

1656 Blake in the Mediterranean. 

War with Spain and Conquest of Ja- 
maica. 

Second Protectorate Parliament, 
Sept. 

1657 Blake's victory at Santa Cruz. 
Cromwell refuses title of King. 
Act of Government. 



1658 Parliament dissolved, Feb. 
Battle of the Dunes. 
Capture of Dunkirk. 
Death of Cromwell, Sept. 3. 
Richard Cromwell, Lord Protec- 
tor, died 1712. 

1659 Third Protectorate Parliament. 
Parliament dissolved. 

Long Parliament recalled. 

Long Parliament again driven out. 

1660 Monk enters London. 

The " Convention" Parliament. 

Charles the Second, lands at Do- 
ver May, died 1685. 

Union of Scotland and Ireland un- 
done. 

1661 Cavalier Parliament begins. 
Act of Uniformity re-enacted. 

1662 Puritan clergy driven out. 
Royal Society at London. 

1663 Dispensing Bill fails. 

1664 Conventicle Act. 
Dutch War begins. 

1665 Five-Mile Act. 

Plague and Fire of London. 
Newton's Theory oj Fluxions. 

1667 The Dutch in the Medway. 
Dismissal of Clarendon. 
Peace of Breda. 

Lewis attacks Flanders. 
Milton's " Paradise Lost." 

1668 The Triple Alliance. 
Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 

1669 Ashley shrinks back from toleration 

to Catholics. 

1670 Treaty of Dover. 

Banyan's "Pilgrim's Progress'''' 
•written. 

1671 Milton's "Paradise Regained" and 

" Sain sou Agonistes." 
Newton's Theory oj Light. 
Closing of the Exchequer. 

1672 Declaration of Indulgence. 
War begins with Holland. 
Ashley made Chancellor. 
Declaration of Indulgence with- 
drawn . 

1673 The Test Act. 
Shaftesbury dismissed. 
Shaftesbury takes the lead of the 

Country Party. 

1674 Bill of Protestant Securities fails. 
Charles makes peace with Holland. 
Danby Lord Treasurer. 

1675 Treaty of mutual aid between Charles 

and Lewis. 

1676 Shaftesbury sent to the Tower. 

1677 Bill for Security of the Church fails. 
Address of the Commons for War 

with France. 
Prince of Orange marries Mary. 

1678 Peace of Nimeguen. 

Oates invents the Popish Plot. 

Fall of Danby. 

New Ministry, with Shaftesbury at 

its head. 
Temple's plan for a new Council. 



6oo 



GUEST S ENGLISH HISTORV. 



1679 New Parliament meets. 
Habeas Corpus Act passed. 
Exclusion Kill introduced. 
Parliament dissolved. 

Shaftesbury dismissed. 

1680 Committee for agitation formed. 
Monmouth pretends to the throne. 
Petitioners and Abhorrers. 
Exclusion Kill thrown out by the 

Lords. 
Trial of Lord Stafford. 

1681 Parliament at Oxford. 
Limitation Kill rejected. 
Monmouth and Shaftesbury arrested. 

1682 Conspiracy and flight of Shaftesbury. 
Rye-house' Plot. 

1633 Death of Shaftesbury. 

Lord Russell and Algernon Sidney 
executed. 

1684 Tow n charters quashed. 
Army increased. 

1685 James the Second, died 1701 
Insurrection of Argyle and Mon- 
mouth. 

Battle of Sedgemoor, July 6. 
The Bloody Circuit. 



1685 Army raised to 20.000 men. 
Revocation of Edict of Nantes. 

1686 Parliament refuses to repeal Test 

Act. 
Test Act dispensed with by Royal 

authority. 
Ecclesiastical Commission set up. 

1687 Newton's " Principia." 
Expulsion of the Fellows of Magda- 
len. 

Dismissal of Lords Rochester and 

Clarendon. 
Declaration of indulgence. 
The boroughs regulated. 
William of Orange protests against 

the Declaration. 
Tyrconnell made Lord Deputy in 

Ireland. 

1688 Clergy refuse to read Declaration of 

indulgence. 

Threat of the Seven Bishops. 

Irish troops brought over to Eng- 
land. 

Lewis attacks Germany. 

William of Orange lands at Torbay. 

Flight of James. 



MODERN ENGLAND. 



1689 — 1885. 



1689 Convention Parliament. 
Declaration of Rights. 

■William and Mary made King 

and Queen. 
William forms the Grand Alliance 

against Lewis. 
Battle of Killiecrankie,y«/y 27. 
Siege of Londonderry. 
.Mutiny Bill. 
Toleration Bill. 
Bill of Rights. 
Secession of the Nonjurors. 

1690 Abjuration Bill and Act of Grace. 
Battle of Beachv Head,/«/tt> 29. 
Battle of the Koyne, July 6. 
William repulsed from Limerick. 

1691 Kattle of Aughrim,_/>//r. 
Capitulation and Treaty of Limerick. 

1692 Massacre of Glencoe. 
Battle of La Hogue, May 19. 

1693 Sunderland's plan of a Ministry. 

1694 Bank of England set up. 
1 leath of Mary. 

l6g6 Currency restored. 

1697 Peace of Ryswick. 

1698 First Partition Treaty. 

1700 Second Partition Treaty. 

1701 Duke of Anjou becomes King of 

Spain. 
Death of James the Second. 
Act of Settlement passed. 

1702 Anne, died 17 14. 

1704 Battle of- Blenheim, Aug. 13. 
Harley and St. John take office. 

1705 Victories of Peterborough in Spain. 



1706 Battle of Ramillies, May 23. 

1707 Act of Union with Scotland. 

1708 Kattle of Oudenarde. 

1 dismissal of Harlev and St. John. 

1709 Battle of Malplaquet. 

1710 Trial of Sacheverel. 

Tory Ministry of Harley and St. 
John. 

1712 Dismissal of Marlborough. 

1713 Treaty of Utrecht. 

17 14 George the First, died 1727. 
Ministry of Townshend and Walpole. 

1715 Jacobite Revolt under Lord Mar. 

1716 Ministry of Lord Stanhope. 
The Septennial Bill. 

1717 The Triple Alliance. 

1718 The Quadruple Alliance. 

1720 Failure of the Peerage Bill. 
The South Sea Company. 

1721 Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. 

1722 Exile of Bishop Atterbury. 
1727 War with Austria and Spain. 

George the Second, died 1760. 

1729 Treaty of Seville. 

1730 Free exportation of American rice 

allowed. 

1731 Treaty of Vienna. 
1733 Walpole's Excise Bill. 

War of the Polish Succession. 
Family Compact between France and 
Spain. 

1737 Death of Oueen Caroline. 

1738 The Methodists appear in London. 
I73g War declared with Spain. 

1740 War of the Austrian Succession. 



CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS. 



60 1 



1742 Resignation of Walpole. 

1743 Ministry of Henry Pelham. 
Battle of Dettingen,_/V«<? 27. 

1745 Battle of Fontenoy, May 31. 
Charles Edward lands in Scot- 
land. 

Battle of Prestonpans, Sept. 21. 
Charles Edward reaches Derby, 
Dec. 4. 

1746 Battle of Falkirk, Jan. 23. 
Battle of Culloden, April 16. 

1748 Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
1751 Clive's surprise of Arcot. 

1754 Death of Henry Pelham. 
Ministry of Duke of Newcastle. 

1755 The Seven Years' War. 
Defeat of General Braddock. 

1756 Loss of Port Mahon. 
Retreat of Admiral Byng. 

1757 Convention of Closter-Seven. 
Ministry of William Pitt. 
Battle of Plassey, _/««<» 23. 

1758 Capture of Loulsburg and Cape Bre- 

ton. 

Capture of Fort Duquesne. 
I75g Battle of Minden, Aug. 1. 

Battle of Quiberon Bay, Nov. 20. 

Capture of Fort Niagara and Ti- 
conderoga. 

Wolfe's Victory on Heights of Abra- 
ham. 

1760 George the Third, died 1820. 
Battle of Wandewash. 

1761 Ministry of Lord Bute. 
Brindley's Canal over the Irivell. 

1762 Peace of Paris. 

1763 Wedgwood establishes Potteries. 

1764 Hargreaves invents Spinning-Jenny. 

1765 Stamp Act passed. 
Ministry of Lord Rockingham. 
Meeting and Protest of American 

Congress. 
Watt invents Sleam-Eugiue. 

1766 Repeal of the Stamp Act. 
Ministry of Lord Chatham. 

1768 Ministry of the Duke of Grafton. 
Wilkes expelled from House of Com- 
mons. 

Arkivright invents Spinning-Ma- 
chine. 

1769 Wilkes three times elected for Mid- 

dlesex. 
House of Commons seats Colonel 

Luttrell. 
Occupation of Boston by British 

troops. 
Letters of Junius. 

1770 Ministry of Lord North. 
Chatham proposes Parliamentary 

Reform. 

1771 Last attempt to prevent Parliamen- 

tary reporting. 

Beginning of tlte great English 
Journals. 
1773 Hastings appointed Governor-Gen- 
eral. 

Boston tea-ships. 



1774 Military occupation of Boston. Port 

closed. 
Massachusetts Charter altered. 
Congress assembles at Philadelphia. 

1775 Rejection of Chatham's plan of con- 

ciliation. 

Skirmish at Lexington. 

Americans, under Washington, be- 
siege Boston. 

Battle of Bunker's Hill. 

Southern Colonies expel their Gov- 
ernors. 

1776 Cromplon invents the Mule. 
Arnold invades Canada. 
Evacuation of Boston. 
Declaration of Independence,/?^ 4. 
Battles of Brooklyn and Trenton. 
Adam Smith's "Wealth of Na- 
tions.'' 1 

1777 Battle of Brandywine. 
Surrender of Saratoga, Oct. 13. 
Chatham proposes Federal Union. 
Washington at Valley Forge. 

1778 Alliance of France with United 

States. 
Death of Chatham, April 7. 

1779 Alliance of Spain with United States. 
Siege of Gibraltar. 

Armed Neutrality of Northern Pow- 
ers. 
The Irish Volunteers. 

1780 Comwallis captures Charleston. 
Descent of Hyder Ali on the Car- 

natic. 

1781 Defeat of Hyder at Porto Novo. 
Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. 

1782 Ministry of Lord Rockingham. 
Victories of Rodney. 

Repeal of Poyning's Act. 

Pitt's Bill for Parliamentary Reform. 

Burke's Bill of Economical Reform. 

Shelburne Ministry. 

Repulse of Allies from Gibraltar. 

Treaties of Paris and Versailles. 

1783 Coalition Ministry of Fox and North. 
Fox's India Bill. 

Ministrv of Pitt. 

1784 Pitt's India Bill. 
Sinking Fund and Excise. 

1785 Parliamentary Reform Bill. 
Free-trade Bill between England and 

Ireland. 

1786 Trial of Warren Hastings. 

1787 Treaty of Commerce with France. 
1738 The Regency Bill. 

1789 Meeting of States-General at Ver- 

sailles. 
New French Constitution. 
Triple Alliance for defence of Tin- 

key. 

1790 Quarrel over Nootka Sound. 
Pitt defends Poland. 

Burke's " Reflections on t/ie French 
• Revolution." 

1791 Representative Government set up 

in Canada. 
Fox's Libel Act. 



6o: 



GUEST S ENGLISH HISTORY. 



1791 Burke's u Appeal from New to Old 

Whigs* 

1792 Pitt hinders Holland from joining the 

Coalition. 
France opens the Scheldt. 
Pitt's efforts for peace. 
The United Irishmen. 

1793 France declares War on England. 
Part of Whigs join Pitt. 
English army lands in Flanders. 

1794 English driven from Toulon. 
English driven from Holland. 
Suspension of Habeas Corpus "Act. 
Victory of Lord Howe, June 21. 

I7g6 Battle of Cape St. Vincent. 

Burke's "Letters on a Regicide 
Peace." 
I7g7 England alone in the War with 
France. 
Battle of Camperdown. 

1798 Irish revolt crushed at Vinegar Hill. 
Battle of the Nile. 

1799 Pitt revives the Coalition against 

France. 
Conquest of Mysore. 

1800 Surrender of Malta to English Fleet. 
Armed Neutrality of Northern Pow- 
ers. 

Act of Union with Ireland. 

1801 George the Third rejects Pitt's plan 

of Catholic Emancipation. 
Administration of Mr. Addington. 
Surrender of French army in Egypt. 
Battle of Copenhagen. 

1802 Peace of Amiens. 

Publication 0/ "Edinburgh Re- 
view." 

1803 Bonaparte declares War. 
Battle of Assaye. 
Second Ministry of Pitt. 

1805 Battle of Trafalgar, Oct. 21. 

1806 Death of Pitt,/««. 23. 
Ministry of Lord Grenville. 
Death of Fox. 

1807 Orders in Council. 
Abolition of Slave-trade. 
Ministry of Duke of Portland. 
Seizure of Danish fleet. 

1808 America passes Non-Intercourse 

Act. 
Battle of Vimeira and Convention of 
Cintra. 

1809 Battle of Corunna,_/(z«. 16. 
Wellesley drives Soidt from Oporto. 
Battle of Talavera. July 27. 
Expedition against Walcheren. 
Ministry of Spencer Perceval. 
Revival of Parliamentary Reform. 

1810 Battle of Busaco. 
Lines of Torres Vedras. 

i3ii Prince of Wales becomes Regent. 

Battle of Fuentes de Onore, May 5. 

Wellington repulsed from Badajoz 
and Almeida. • 

Luddite Riots. 
1812 Assassination of Spencer Perceval. 

Ministry of Lord Liverpool. 



1812 Storm of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz 
America declares War against Eng- 
land. 

Battle of Salamanca, July 22. 
Wellington retreats from Burgos. 
Victories of American Frigates. 

1813 Battle of Vittoria,/«w 21. 
Battles of the Pyrenees. 
Wellington enters France, Oct. 
Americans attack Canada. 

1814 Battle of Orthez. 

Rattle of Toulouse, April 10. 
Battle of Chippewa, July. 
Raid upon Washington. 
British repulsed at Plattsburg and 
New Orleans. 

1815 Battle of Quatre Bras, June 16. 
Rattle of Waterloo, June 18. 
Treaty of Vienna. 

1819 Manchester Massacre. 

1820 Cato Street Conspiracy. 
George the Fourth, died 1830. 
Bill for the Queen's Divorce. 

1822 Canning Foreign Minister. 

1823 Mr. Huskisson joins the Ministry. 

1826 Expedition to Portugal. 
Recognition of South American 

States. 

1827 Ministry of Mr. Canning. 
Ministry of Lord Goderich. 
Battle of Navarino. 

1828 Ministry of the Duke of Wellington. 

1829 Catholic Emancipation Bill. 

1830 William the Fourth, died 1837. 
Ministry of Lord Grey. 

Opening of Liverpool and Manches- 
ter Railroad. 

1831 Reform Agitation. 

1832 Parliamentary Reform Bill passed, 

June 7. 

1833 Suppression of Colonial Slavery. 
East India trade thrown open. 

1834 Ministry of Lord Melbourne. 
New Poor Law. 

System of National Education begun. 
Ministry of Sir Robert Peel. 

1835 Ministry of Lord Melbourne re- 

placed. 
Municipal Corporation Act. 

1836 General Registration Act. 
Civil Marriage Act. 

1837 Victoria. 

1839 Committee of Privy Council for Ed- 

ucation instituted. 
Demands for a People's Charter. 
Formation of Anti-Corn- Law League. 
Revolt in Canada. 
War with China. 
Occupation of Cabul. 

1840 Quadruple Alliance with France, Por- 

tugal, and Spain. 
Bombardment of Acre. 

1841 Ministry of Sir Robert Peel. 
Income Tax revived. 
Peace with China. 

Massacre of English army in Af- 
ghanistan. 



CHRONOLOGICAL ANNALS. 



603 



1842 Victories of Pollock in Afghanistan. 

1845 Battles of Moodkee and Ferozeshah. 

1846 Battle of Sobraon. 
Annexation of Scinde. 
Repeal of the Corn-Laws. 

1847 Ministry of Lord John Russell. 

1848 Suppression of the Chartists and 

Irish rebels. 
Victory of Goojerat. 
Annexation of the Punjaub. 

1852 Ministry of Lord Derby. 

1853 Ministry of Lord Aberdeen. 

1854 Alliance with France against Russia. 
Siege of Sebastopol. 

Battle of Inkermann, Nov. 5. 

1855 Ministry of Lord Palmerston. 
Capture of Sebastopol. 

1856 Peace of Paris with Russia. 

1857 Sepoy Mutiny in Bengal. 

1858 Sovereignty of India transferred to 

the Crown. 
Volunteer movement. 
Second Ministry of Lord Derby. 

1859 Second Ministry of Lord Palmerston. 
1865 Ministry of Lord Russell. 



1866 Third Ministry of Lord Derby. 

1867 Parliamentary Reform Bill. 
Ministry of Mr. Disraeli. 

1868 Ministry of Mr. Gladstone. 
Abolition of compulsory Church 

Rates. 

1869 Disestablishment of the Episcopal 

Church in Ireland. 

1870 Irish Land Bill. 
Education Bill. 

1871 Abolition of Religious Tests in Uni- 

versities. 
Army Bill. 
Ballot Bill. 
1874 Second Ministry of Mr. Disraeli. 

1877 The Rnsso-Turkish War. 

1878 Treaty of Berlin. 

1879 War with Afghanistan. 

1880 Second Ministry of Mr. Gladstone. 

1881 Irish Land Act' 

1882 Bombardment of Alexandria. 

1884 War in the Soudan. 

1885 Ministry of the Marquis of Salisbury. 
Third Parliamentary Reform Bill. 
General Election. 



SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND. 



BEFORE THE NORMAN CONQUEST. 



Beginning 
of Reign. 



SAXONS. 



Egbert 827 

Ethelwolf 836 

Ethelbald 857 

Ethelbert 860 

Ethelrecl 1 866 

Alfred 871 

Edward the Elder .... 901 

Ethelstan 925 

Edmund 1 941 

Edred 946 

Edw y 955 

Edgar 959 



Beginning 
of Reign. 

Edward II 975 

Ethelred II 979 

Edmund Ironside .... 1016 

DANES. 

Swend 1014 

Canute 1017 

Harold 1 1035 

Hardicanute ...... 1040 

SAXONS. 

Edward III. (the Confessor), 1042 
Harold II 1066 



AFTER THE CONQUEST. 



NORMANS. 

William 1 1066 

William II 10S7 

Henry 1 1100 

Stephen 1135 

PLANTAGENETS. 

Henry II 11 54 

Richard 1 1189 

John 1 1 99 

•Henry III 1216 

t/Edward 1 1272 

Edward II 1307 

■^Edward III 1327 

v Richard II 1377 

HOUSE OF LANCASTER. 

Henry IV 1399 

•/Henry V 1413 

• Henry VI 1422 

HOUSE OF YORK. 

Edward IV 1461 

- Edward V 14S3 

Richard III 1483 



HOUSE OF TUDOR. 

^'Henry VII 1485 

Henry VIII 1509 

"-Edward VI 1547 

Mary 1 1553 

Elizabeth 1558 

HOUSE OF STUART. 

'^James 1 1603 

Charles 1 1625 

Oliver Cromwell, Protector, 1653 
Richard Cromwell, Protector, 1658 

HOUSE OF STUART (continued). 

Charles II 1660 

James II 1685 

/ "William III. and Mary II. . 1689 
Anne 1702 

HOUSE OF BRUNSWICK. 

George 1 17 14 

I" George II 17 2 " 

George III i/Co 

George IV 1820 

William IV 1830 

Victoria 1837 

604 



FIRST LORDS OF THE TREASURY AND 
PRIME MINISTERS OF ENGLAND. 



Appointed. 

Robert Walpole Oct. 10, 17 14 

James Stanhope April 10, 1717 

Earl of Sunderland Mar. 16, 17 18 

Sir Robert Walpole April 20, 1720 

Earl of Wilmington Eeb. 11, 1742 

Henry Pelham July 26, 1743 

Duke of Newcastle April 21, 1754 

Earl of Bute May 29, 1762 

George Grenville April 16, 1763 

Marquis of Rockingham July 12, 1765 

Duke of Grafton Aug. 2, 1766 

Lord North Jan. 28, 1770 

Marquis of Rockingham Mar. 30, 17S2 

Earl of Shelburne July 3, 1782 

Duke of Portland April 5, 1783 

William Pitt Dec. 27, 1783 

Henry Addington Mar. 7, 1801 

William Pitt May 12, 1804 

Lord Grenville Jan. 8, 1806 

Duke of Portland Mar. 13, 1807 

Spencer Perceval June 23, 1810 

Earl of Liverpool June 8, 1812 

George Canning April 11, 1S27 

Viscount Godf.rich Aug. 10, 1827 

Duke of Wellington Jan. 11, 1828 

Earl Grey Nov. 12, 1830 

Viscount Melbourne July 14, 1834 

Sir Robert Peel Dec. 10, 1834 

Viscount Melbourne April 18, 1835 

Sir Robert Peel Sept. 1, 1841 

Lord John Russell July 3, 1846 

Earl of Derby Feb. 27, 1852 

Earl of Aberdeen Dec. 28, 1852 

Viscount Palmerston Feb. 8, 1S55 

Earl of Derby Feb. 26, 1858 

Viscount Palmerston June 18, 1859 

Earl Russell Nov. 6, 1865 

Earl of Derby July 6, 1866 

Benjamin Disraeli Feb. 27, 1868 

William Ewart Gladstone Dec. 9, 1868 

Benjamin Disraeli (Earl of Beaconsfield) . . . Feb. 21, 1874 

William Ewart Gladstone April 2S, 1880 

Marquis of Salisbury June 23, 1885 

605 



INDEX. 



Addison, 512, 583 

Afghanistan, war with, 559,-572 

Agricola, 29-31 

Alban, St., 32-34 

Alchemy, 28T, 488 

Alderman, meaning of the term, 41, 83 

Ale and beer, 38, §9, 529 

Alfred, King, 68-82 ; in war, 71-75 ; In 

peace, 76-81 ; his literary work, 79-81 ; 

death, 82 
Alfred, son of Ethelred, 118 
Alice Perrers, 273, 274, 297 
Alphege, or ^Elfheah, St., 115 
America, 379-381. (See Colonies, and 

United States.) 
Amusements, 16, 90, 291, 529. 
Angles, the, 47, 51 
Anglo-Saxon, or English, Chronicle, 69, 

80, 106, 140, 160, 162 
Anglo-Saxons, meaning of the term, 51 
Anjou, 159, 164, 344, 345 
Anne Boleyn, 397, 411 
Anne of Bohemia, 306 
Anne Stuart, Queen, 496, 508-515 
Anselm, 152, 156 
Aquitaine, 272 

Archers, English, 250, 264, 327 
Architecture, 31, 56, 91, 121, 148, 208, 223 
Armada, the Spanish, 435-438 
Armies, mediieval, 247, 249, 354 
Army, Cromwell's, 463-465, 468, 476 
Army, standing, 449, 456, 492 
Arnold, Edwin, 586 
Arnold, Matthew, 577 
Arthur, King, 48, 49 ; tales of, 192, 230 
Arthur of Brittany, 190 
Aryan family, 22-25 
Asser, 68 

Assizes, the Bloody, 491 
Astrology, 270, 286 
Astronomy, 214, 287, 382 
Atlantic Cable, 569 
Augustine, St., mission of, 53 

Babington's Plot, 432, 433 
Bacon, Lord, 449, 450 
Bacon, Roger, 215, 262, 487 



Bailey, Philip James, 585 
Balliol, John, 242, 243 
Ballot, the, 570 
Battles : — 

Agincourt, 327, 328 

Aston, 71 

Austerlitz, 543 

Aylesford, 48 

Bannockburn, 254 

Barnet, 353, 362 

Blenheim, 510 

Bosworth, 373 

Boyne, 503 

Brunanburh, 85 

Crecy. 262 

Culloden, 520 

Dunbar, 470 

Edgehill, 462 

Etbandune, 75 

Evesham, 220 

Falkirk, 248 

Flodden Field, 393 

Hastings (or Senlac), 132 

Herrings, the, 336 

Hogue, La, 504 

Homildon Hill, 31T 

Lewes, 220 

Maldon, 104-106 

Naseby, 465 

Neville's Cross, 267 

Nile, 561 

Patay, 341 

Plassey, 527 

Poitiers, 267 

Prestonpans, 520 

Sedgemoor, 490 

Sheriffmuir, 519 

Shrewsbury, 318 

Spurs, the, 391 

St. Albans, 349 

Stamford Bridge, 132 

Stirling, 247 

Tewkesbury, 362 

Toulouse, 544 

Towton, 359 

Trafalgar, 541 

Yerneuil, 335 



607 



608 



INDEX. 



Battles (continued) : — 

Wakefield, 350 

Wars of the Roses (the 12 battles), 
362 

Waterloo, 545 

Worcester, 470 
Baxter. Richard, 479 
Bayeux Tapestry, 126 
Beaufort, Cardinal, 334, 343, 344, 346 
Becket, Thomas a, 174-lsi : as courtier, 
174 ; as archbishop, 175 ; disputes with 
the king, 176-178 : death, 178 (see 
shrines) ; declared a traitor, 411 
Bede, the Venerable. 52, 57-59, 80 
Bedford. Duke of, 333-335, 336, 342, 357 
Bedloe, 4*5 
Beggars, 358, 410, 440 
Benevolences, 366, 371, 375, 449 
Bertha, Queen, 53 
Berwick, siege of, 243 
Bible, the, 97, 295, 296, 366, 389, 406-410, 

424,442 
Bishops, the Seven, 494 
Black Death, the, 261, 269-271, 358 
Blackheath, peasants on, 300, 347 
Black Hole of Calcutta, 526 
Black Prince, the, 202, 263, 267, 272-275 
Black, William, 581 
Blackmore, Richard, 581 
Blake, Admiral, 474 
Bliicher, Marshal, 545 
Boadicea, 29 
Boats, ancient, 20. 228 
Bohemia, blind King of, 264, 265 
Bohemia, Elizabeth. Queen of, 450 
Bohemia, reformers in, 306 
Bohun, Humphrey, 226 
Bonaparte, Napoleon, 543-548; death, 551 
Bonner. Bishop, 416. 421, 424 
Books, price of, 296. 364 
Brabant, John of, 335 
Bretwalda. the, 62 
Brewster, Sir David, 574 
Brihtnoth, Alderman, 104 
Britons, the ancient. 18-25, 33, 50 
Bronte, Charlotte, 580 
Bronze period, the, 6-8 
Brougham, Lord. 550 
Brown, Dr. John. 578 
Browning. Robert, 585 
Bruce, Kobert, 237, 250-255 
Buckingham, Dukes of, 368-373, 449, 4.54, 

455 
Buckle, Henry Thomas, 575 
Bunyan, John, 480 
Burgundy, Duchess of, 365, 379 
Burgundy, Dukes of, 325, 330, 335, 342, 

343, 360 
Burke, Edmund, 539 
Burleigh, Lord (Cecil), 428, 430 
Burnet, Bishop, 484 
Byng, Admiral, 524 
Byron, 583 

Cabinet, the, 518 
Cade, Jack, 347, 348 
Caedmon, 59 



Cajsar, Julius, 19, 26-28 

Calais, 265, 426 

Campbell, Thomas, 584 

Canada, 525. 527; revolt in, 557; Domin- 
ion of, 569 

Canute, 109, 111-117; cruelty, 113; re- 
form, 113; pilgrimage, 116 

Carlyle, Thomas, 558, 675 

Caroline of Brunswick, 550 ; death, 551 

Castles, Norman, 144, 160, 164 

Catholic emancipation, 552 

Cavaliers, the, 452 

Caves, 5, 48 

Cawnpore, Battle of, 564 

Caxton, William, 364-366 

Celtic races, 24, 49, 166,235 

Cerdic, 48 

Charles I., 450-468 ; marriage, 451 ; the 
Petition of Bight, 455 ; arrest of the 
five members, 461 ; civil war, 462 ; 
battle of Naseby, 465 ; trial and exe- 
cution, 467, 468. 

Charles II., 469 ; escape, 470 ; recall, 
477 ; bribed by Prance, 487 ; death, 489 

Charles the Great (Charlemagne), 61-63 

Charter of Henry L. 156, 198 

Charter, the Great, 199-205 

Chartists, the, 558 

Chaucer, Geoffrey, 278,313; his "Poor 
Parson," 282 

Chivalry. 183-186, 222, 254, 262. 283. 540 

Christianity in the sixth century. 54-56 

Church, the : influence of, 87, 89 ; dis- 
putes between king and, 147, 148, 152, 
170-181, 193: wealth of, 324 

Churls, 46. 85, 86 

Civil War in America, 566 

Clarence, Duke of, 351, 360, 362, 367, 552 

Claverhouse, 494 

Clergy, eelibacv of, 96, 171, 416, 430, 499 ; 
worldlinesso'f. 281, 384, 407 

Clive, Lord. 526 

Cloth-weaving, 271 

Clough, Arthur Hugh, 585 

Clvde, Lord. 564 

Coliden. Richard, 560 

Cobham, Eleanor, 348 

Cobham, Lord. 323, 324 

Colepepper, 460 

Coleridge, 538, 584 

Colet, Dean. 384, 388-392 

Collingwood. Admiral, 542 

Collins, Wilkie, 581 

Colonies, English, 381, 445, 525, 537 

Colonies, Roman, 14 

Columba, St., 56 

Columbus, 380, 381 

Comets, 99, 214, 4s8 

Compass, mariner's. 381 

Comyn, the Bed. 252 

Confession, 385, 415 

Constitutions of Clarendon, 175, 179 

Conversion to Christianity of the Brit- 
ons, 31-34 ; of the English, 52-59 

Copernicus, 381 

Corn-laws, repeal of, 551 

Corporation Acts, 480, 549 



INDEX. 



609 



Countess of Hainault, 335 

Courts, Ecclesiastical, 171, 172, 314, 335 

Covenant, the, 465 

Covenanters, the, 404 

Coverdale, Miles, 40(i 

Cowper, 538, 583 

Cranmer, Archbishop, 404, 415, 410, 419, 

424, 425, 430 
Crimea, War in, 563 
Criminal trials. 556 
Cromwell, Oliver, 445, 463-475 ; his 

army, 463 ; in Ireland, 409 ; supreme, 

472; 'death, 475 
Cromwell, Richard, 470 
Cromwell, Thomas, 404, 409-411 
Crosses, Queen Eleanor's, 223 
Crusades, the, 153, 186, 224 
Cumberland, Duke of, 557 
Cuthbert, St., 75 

Danegeld, the, 118 

Banes, the, 64-60: settlement of, 70, 94; 
war against, 103-111; triumph of, 109 

Darwin, 574 

De Quincy, Thomas, 577 

Derry. siege of, 503 

Desp'ensers, the, 258, 259 

Dickens, Charles, 578 

Dispensations, papal, 221, 222, 385 

Disraeli, 582 

Dissenters, 494. 500, 501, 512 (See Puri- 
tans, Independents, and Presbyte- 
rians.) 

Domesday Book, 147 

Dominic," St., 212 

Dominicans, 213, 422 

Douglases, the, 254, 317 

Drake, Sir Francis, 436 

Dress, 3, 6, 15, 20, 39, 90, 285. 287, 358 

Druids, the, 21, 22 

Dryden, 582 

Dudley and Empson, 375, 390 

Dudley, Earl of Leicester, 429, 440 

Dudley, Lord Guildford, 420 

Dunstan, St., 93-102 

Dwellings : pre-historic, 3, 6: Roman, 
14, 31; British, 19; Teuton, 39; Earlj 
Engli#i, 91; Norman, 121. 144: Irish', 
168; Welsh, 228; Scotch, 239; English, 
270 

East Anglia, 51, 66, 67 

Easter, origin of the name, 43 

Eclipses, 99, 214. 488 

Edgar the Etheling, 129, 130, 141. 148 

Edgar the Peaceable, 93-102, 114 

Edinburgh, 55, 230 

Edinburgh Castle, 243, 520 

Edmond Ironsides, 110, 111 

Edmund, St., 00.07. 110, 115 

Education. 57, 69, 213-215. 270. 284,285, 

363, 419. 533, 551, 591 
Edward the Confetsor, 120-129 
Edward the Elder, 83, 84 
Edward the -Martyr. 101, 103 
Edward I., 221: marriage, 223: conquers 

Wales, 231; banishes the Jews. 232; 



conquest of Scotland. 243; second 
conquest, 250; death, 253 

Edward 11., 254, 266-260; favorites of, 
256,258; resistance to, 257; deposition, 
260 

Edward III., 260 ; war with France, 
261 ; Black Death, 209 ; discontent in 
England, .7:: ; death, 207 

Edward IV., 350 ; coronation. 359 ; mar- 
riage, 359, 360; night, 301; re! urn. 
361 ; death, 368 

Edward V., 361, 368-371 

Edward VI., 413-419: education, 415 : 
progress of Protestantism, 413; re- 
volts, 416, 417 : death, 419 

Edwin, King, loo 

Edwin of Northumberland, 55, 62 

Egbert, 02-05 

Eleanor, Queen, 223 

Elfrida, or Mlfthryth, 95, 103 

Eliot, George, 579 

Eliot, Sir John, 454, 455 

Elizabeth Tudor, Queen, 414. 427-441 
her ministers, 42s ; religion, 430 
death of Mary Stuart, 433 ; the Span 
ish Armada, 435-438 ; literature, 439 
death, 441 

Elizabeth Woodville, Queen, 361, 362 

Elizabeth of York, Queen, 372, 373, 374 

Ely, 07. 105, 116 

Emma, Queen, 109, 113 

Empson, 375, 390 

Enclosure of common lands, 281, 417, 
418 

English colonies, list of, 573 

English, the : first arrival of, 47; com- 
piled with Normans, 120, 121, 134; 
nation, of what races composed, 138 

Erasmus, 388-390, 400 

Essayists, 577 

Essex, p:arls of, 440, 462 

Ethelbald, 66 

Ethelbert, 66 

Ethelfled, Lady of the Mercians, 83, 84 

Ethelred, brother of Alfred, 71, 72 

Ethelred the Unready, 103-111 

Ethelstane, 84, 85, 98 

Ethelwulf, 65 

Evangelical clergy, 530, 531 

Excommunication, 170, 385 

Fairies, belief in, 40. 338 

Falkland. 460 

Feudal system, 88, 142, 143., 354-356 

Field of the Cloth of Cold, 393 

Fire of London. 482, 483 

Fisher, Bishop, 401-403 

Food: pre-historic, 1-7; Briton, 20; 
Teuton, 38 ; Irish. 100 ; Welsh, 228, 
220; Scotch, 239, 240; English, 89, 
288-290. 370. 445 

Forster. John, 578 

Fox. C. J.. 330 

Koxe, book of martyrs, 406 

Francis, St.. 211 

Franco-Prussian War, 571 

Freeman, Edward A., 576 



610 



INDEX. 



Free trade, 560 

French Revolution, 538-540, 553 
Friars, the, 212, 280. 281, '2.'.)?, 
Froude, James Anthony, 576 

Gardiner, Bishop, 416, 421, 424 

Gaveston, Piers, 256-258 

Geneva award, 567 

George I., 508-519 ; first Jacobite rising, 
519 

George II., 520-531 ; second Jacobite 
rising, 520; foreign wars, 523; Can- 
ada, 525 ; India, 525 ; state of religion, 
527 

George III., 532-547 ; war with America, 
533-536; war with Fiance, 537,541- 
547 ; death, 549 

George IV., 549-552 

George, Prince of Denmark, 508 

Germain, St., 46 

Ghent, treaty of, 549 

Ghuznee, siege of, 559 

Gibbon, 575 

Gibraltar, 510 

Gildas, 21,45 

Gin-drinking, 528 

Giraldus Cambrensis, 166, 228 

Gladstone, 571 

Glastonbury, 32, 115 

Glendower, Owen, 316-317 

Gloucester, Dukes of, 305, 307, 333, 335, 
344-346. (See Richard ILL) 

Gloucester, Earl of, 159, 161, 162 

GOD, Aryan names for, 42 

Godwine, Karl, 114, 120, 123-126 

Goldsmith. 588 

Gower, 279. 299 

Greek, study of, 382, 383 

Green, Henry John, 576 

Greenwich, 391 

Greenwich Hospital, 505 

Greenwich Observatory, 488 

Grey, Lady Jane, 419-423 

Grote, George, 576 

Guienne, 164 

Gunpowder, 215, 2 2 

Gunpowder Treason, 446, 447 

Hainault, Countess of, 335 

Hampden, 445, 454, 457, 461, 463 

Hampton Court, 396, 398, 469 

Hanover, 523 

Hanover, House of, 515 

Hanover, separation of , 557 

Hardy, Thomas, 579 

Harold Harefoot, 118 

Harold, son of Godwine, 123, 126-132 

Harthaenut, 118 

Hastings, Lord, 368-370 

Hengist and Horsa, 48 

Henrietta Maria, Queen. 451 

Henry L, 155-159 ; education, 155 ; char- 
ter, 156; marriage, 156; treatment of 
the English, 157 ; death of his son, 
15S ; death, 159 

Henry II., 162-183 : marriage, 163 ; do- 
minions, 164 ; conquest of Ireland, 



168; disputes with Beeket, 176-178; 
penance, 179; family troubles, 182; 

death, is;: 

Henry III., 206-220; Westminster Ab- 
bey, 20s; papal extortions, 209; for- 
eigners, 216 ; extravagance, 217 ; the 
parliament, 218 

Henry I V., 308-320 ; chosen king, 312; 
persecutes Lollards. 313; rebellions 
and troubles, 316-318 ; death, 320 

Henry Y., 315, 321-331 ; war with 
France, 324, 325 ; conquest of Nor- 
mandy, 329; marriage, 330; death, 
331 

Henry VI., 333-353 ; crowned in France, 
341 ; character, 344 ; marriage, 345 ; 
loss of France, 347 ; civil war begins, 
349; death. 362 

Henry VI I., 353, 372, 374-390; benevo- 
lences, 375 ; alliances, 378 ; the Re- 
naissance, 379 

Henry VIII., 390-412 ; Colet, 391 ; Wol- 
sey, 393; marriage with Katherine of 
Aragon, 378; divorce, 399; head of 
the Church, 399 ; publishes the Bible, 
409 ; other marriages, 411 ; death, 412 

Heptarchy, the, 52 

High Commission, Court of, 455, 458 

Highlanders, Scotch, 24, 236, 514, 525 

Hilda, St., 59 

Historians, 576 

Hood. Thomas, 585 

Hotspur, Henry, 317, 318, 321 

Households, noblemen's, 288, 376 

Howard of Effingham, Lord, 435 

Hundred Years' War, 262, 347 

Huxley, 574 

Hyde (Lord Clarendon), 460, 461, 481 

Independents, 463 

India, 525 

Ingelow, Jean, 585 

Inquisition, 422 

Interdict, the Pope's, 194, 203 

Inventions, 590 

Ireland, 165; conquered by Henry II., 
168; English settlements in, 169, 469, 
502i; Essex in, 441 ; rebellion. 459 ; 
Cromwell in. 469; trade, 531; union 
with England, 590 ; wrongs of, 554 ; 
freedom of, 561 : famine in, 562 

Irish Church, the, 56, 165, 166, 551, 569 

Irish kings, 167, 168, 306 

Irish problem, 590 

Irish tenant laws, 570 

Ironsides, Cromwell's, 463 

Isabella, Queen, 257, 259, 260 

Jaeobitism, 504, 515, 519-522 

James I., 133,442-451 ; the Puritans, 444, 
445 : the Catholics. 446, 447 ; the par- 
liament, 44s ; death. 451 

James II., 486, 489-497; Monmouth's 
rebellion, 490; the universities, 493; 
the seven bishops, 494, 495 ; birth 
of a prince, 495 ; flight, 496 ; death, 
506 



INDEX. 



011 



Jeanne d'Arc, 337 

Jeffreys, Judge, 191, 493, 499 

Jews, 1st;, ist; 190, 232-234, L'39, 551. 5SS 

John, 183, 189-201; death of Arthur, 
190; loss of Normandy, 191; dispute 
with the Pope, 193-196 : submission, 
19V ; signs the Charter, 200 ; French 
invasion, 204; death, 204 

John Ball. 298 

John of Gaunt, 273, 293, 296, 297. 304, 308 

Johnson, Dr., 521, 583 

.lutes, the, 47-51 

Katherine of Aragon, 378, 397, 399 

Keats, John, 584 

Ken, Bishop. 491, 494. 501 

Kent. 19. 47, 48, 51, 53, 298. 299, 300, 347, 

422 
Kinglake, Alex., 576 
King, not absolute, 85, 258, 307, 405, 443, 

461, 498 
King, sacredness of, 122, 123, 467. 516 
Kirke, Colonel, 490 
Knox, John, 431 

Laborers, statutes of, 272 

Lamb, Charles, 578 

Lambert Simnel, 378. 379 

Lancaster, Duke of. (See John of 
Gaunt.) 

Lancaster, Earl of, 257, 258, 259 

Landor, Walter Savage, 584 

Lanfranc, 148 

Langland, William. 277, 289, 290 

Langton, Stephen, Archbishop, 194, 197, 
198, 203, 209 

Language : Aryan, 23, 24 : Celtic, 24, 49, 
236; Teutonic. 36, 41, 42. 136; Ro- 
mance, 14, 136; English, 135, 137. 276. 
277 

Language. Basque. 24, 138 

Latimer. Bishop, 409. 417, 421 

Laud, Archbishop, 454, 455, 459 

Laws, Roman, i:'., 543 

Lear, King, 26, 192 

Lecky, W. E. H., 575 

Leicester, Earls of, 220, 429, 440 

Lever, Charles, 579 

Liberals, return of, 573 

Limoges, siege of, 272 

Literature, progress of, 496, 571 

Llewellyn, 230. 231 

Lollards, the, 313, 323, 357, 384 

London, 107, 158, 270, 323, 432, 481, 483 

London Stone, 31, 348 

Lords Ordainers, 258 

Louis XiV. of France, 486, 502, 506, 509 

Lubbock, Sir John. 574 

Lucknow, battle of, 504 

Lyell, Sir Charles, 574 

Lytton, Lord, 580 

Macaulay, 576 
Macbeth', 117, 123 
Machinery, 52, 590 
Maid of Orleans 337 
Mandeville, Sir John, 277 



Manny. Sir Walter. 266, 270 

Margaret of Anjou. 345, 349, 361, 302 

Marlborough, Duchess of, 508-510 

.Marlborough, Duke of, 490, 508-510 

Mary, Queen of Scots, 430. 431-4.14 

Mary, Queen (Stuart), 493, 500, 505 

Mary, Queen (Tudor), 414, 420-426; 
marriage, 423 ; England reconciled to 
the Pope, 423; persecution of the 
Protestants, 424-420 ; death, 420 

Massacre of the Danes, 108 

Massacre of St. Bartholomew, 431 

Masson, David, 578 

.Matilda, Empress, 159, 161 

Matilda, Queen, 156 

Matthew Paris, 210 

Mercia, 51, 02. 83 

Metals, working in, 5, 7, 19 

Methodists, 529-531 

Microscopes invented, 4s8 

Mile End, 301 

Mill, John Stuart, 575 

Milton, 453, 475, 582 

Minorca, 511, 524 

Minstrels and gleemen, 90, 116, 188 

Miracle of the royal touch, 122, 516 

Miracle plays, 173', 174, 139, 410 

Missionaries, 473, 531 

Monasteries. 57-59, 95, 281, 387, 410 

Monk, General, 176 

Monmouth, Duke of, 190 

Montfort, Simon de, 220 

Months, old names of, 92 

Montrose, 469 

Moore, 583 

More, Sir Thomas. 350, 370, 392, 398-101 

Morris, William. 585 

Mortimer, House of, 308, 312, 321, 326, 
316 

Mortimer, Roger, 258-200 

Morton, Cardinal, 369-372, 375, 387 

Muller, Max, 571 

Municipal reform, 555 

Mystery plays, 173, 174, 139, 410 

Napier, Gen. Charles James. 561 

Napier, Sir Robert, 509 

Navarino, battle of, 552 

Navy, 74, 94, 435, 541 

Nelson, Lord, 541-512 

Neolithic period, 4, 5 

New Forest, 146. 148, 154 

Newfoundland, discovery of, 381 

Newman, Cardinal, 578 

Newspapers, 506 

Newspaper tax, 556 

New Testament, 295, 389 ; burnt at St. 
Paul's, 408 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 493 

Nobles, power of, 354, 356, 375, 376 

Nonjurors, 501 

Non-resistance, doctrine of, 144, 492, 
501, 512 

Norman Conquest, 134 

Normandy. 120; Harold in, 126 ; Henry 
I. in, 157; lost by John. 191; con- 
quered by Henry V.. 329, 330, 



G12 



INDEX. 



Normans, the, 109, 120 : in England, 
121, 126, 135, 141, 164; in Scotland, 23ii 
Northampton, peace of, 255 
Northumberland, 51, 62, 85, 145, 243 
Northumberland, Earls and Dukes of, 

310, 317, 376, 418, 419 
Nova Scotia, oil 
Novelists, 578-582 

Oates, Titus. 484, 485 

• lath of allegiance, 501 

Oaths, 127, 221 

< >'< lonnell, Daniel, 554 

Otf'a, til', 63 

Olaf, the Dane, 107 

i >pium war. 559 

Ordeal, trial by, 98 

Orleans, Dukes of, 325, 328 

Orleans. Maid of, 337-342 

Orleans, siege of, 335-340 

Palaeolithic period, 1-4 

Pale, the, in Ireland, 169, 468 

Palmerston, Lord, 568 

Panic, 552 

Papal power in England, 116, 131 ; en- 
eroachments, 147. 148, 203, 209, 292; 
extortions, 209, 210, 211,280; end of, 
426 

Pardons, selling of, 280, 294, 385 

Parliament: old Teuton, 41 : English, 
218-220; under Edward I., 225; Ed- 
ward 111., 274; Richard II., 305, 311 
Henry IV., 312 ; Henry VI., 347, 356 
Edward IV., 366; Richard ill.. ;:ti> 
371 : Henry VII.. 374, 375 : Mary, 423 
.Tames I .. 4 Is ; Charles 1 ., 454. 455, 458 
the Long, 459-476 ; Cromwell, 466, 472 
the Revolution. 4l's ; George II., 522, 
'.•2"; modern, 550; reform of, 553. 

Parliament, house of. destroyed by lire, 
564. 

Paston library, 363, 304 

Paul's Cathedral, St., 128, 408, 483 

Paul's School, St.. 3s4, 390 

Peel, Sir Robert, 560 

Peninsular war, 544. 545 

Pepys, Samuel, 47ii 

Percys, the, 317, 353. (See Northum- 
berland, Earls of.) 

Perkin Warbeck, 378, 379 

Peterborough, 07 

Petition of ^Kiyht. 455 

Philip of Spain, 421. 428. 429, 431, 4.;:'.. 
438 

Philippa, Queen, 259, 266, 27:: 

Pictures in churches, 173, 299, 337, 416 

Piers the Ploughman, 277, 281 

Pilgrim Fathers, 445 

Pilgrimages. 116, 153. 386 

Pilgrimages, Canterbury, 180, 279, 388 

Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 523 
525. 535 

Pitt, William, the second, 536-543 

Plague. 481. (See Black Death.) 

Plantagenet, meaning of the name, 164 

Poets. 583-586 



Poitou, 164 

Pole, Cardinal. 423,426 

Poll-tax, 298,302 

Poor-law, 440 

Pope, 583 

Popes : Gregory the Great, 52, 80 
Gregory V1L, 147; Innocent III., 193 
Alexander VI., 384; Julius II. , 385 
v XIII., 432 

Popish plot, 484-486 

Prsemunire, statute of, 306, 398 

Praise-God Barebone, 453, 172 

Prayer-book, the English, 404, 416, 430 

Prerogative, royal, 44s 

Presbyterians, 443, 479 

Press, libertj of, 505 

Pretender, the old, 515, 518 

Pretender, the young, 519-521 

Prince Albert, 558 

Printing, invention of, 363-366 

Prisons. 480. 531 

Purgatory, 386 

Puritans,~430, 444,445, 453, 466, 478-480 

Pym, 445, 454 

Quebec, siege of, 525 

Raleigh, Sir Walter, 445, 446 

Randolph, 254 

Reade, Charles, 580 

Reform Bills, 551, 589 

Reform, progress of, 589 

Reformation, dawn of, 292-296 ; in Ger- 
many. 396 ; in England, 388-426 

Relics. 54, 9s, 127. 150 

Religions liberty, 588 

Renaissance, the. 379, 388 

Representative government, 219 

Revolts of the people, 145. 298-303, 347, 
416, 417, 422. 190 

Revolution, French. 537-540 

Revolution of 1848, 565 

Revolution, the great, 49s. 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua. 533 

Richard I., 183, 186-189 

Richard II., 297-312; peasants' revolt, 
297; his uncles, 304; marriages, 306, 
307; banishes Henry of Lancaster, 
309; deposition, 310 ; death. 312 

Richard HI.. 351. 362,367-373; corona- 
tion, 370 ; government. 371 ; murder of 
the princes, 371 ; (hath. 373 

Richmond, Countess of. 371, 373 
Ridley, Bishop, 419, 424, 430 
Rivers, Lord, 360, 365, 368, 369 
Robert, Duke of Normandv, 149, 151. 

154, 157 
Roger of Wendover. 190. 217 

Samuel, ->4 
Romans, the, 9-17: in Britain, 26-34; 

depart from Britain, 44 
Roses, wars of the. 326, 349-362, 373 
Rosetti, Dante Gabriel, 586 
Rouen, siege of, :;::o 
Roundheads, 455 
Royal Academy, 533 
Royal Society, 487, 516 



INDEX. 



613 



Runuyrnede, 200 
Rupert, Prince, 462 
Russell, Lord John, 554 
Russia, war with, 562 
Ruskin, John, 577 
Rye House Plot, 487 

Sacheverell, Dr., 512 

Sailors, English, 436, 541 

Sanctuary, right of, 172, 361 

Savoy Palace, 261), 300 

Sawtre, William, 314 

Saxons, the. 47, ."U 

Schools, free, 570 

Scientific writers, 574 

Scinde, conquest of. 561 

Scotland, people of. 45, 235, 236; sub- 
mission to Edward the Elder, 84 ; to 
Edgar, 94; to ('nut. 117 ; war of Henry 
II. with, 179, 180; old laws of. 237, 
238; disputed succession, lit-'; war 
with England, 243-255; victory of, 
255; alliance with France, 243, 267, 
316, 334. 429 ; James Stuart I.. King, 
318. 322. 331, 335; border wars. 316: 
James Stuart VI. becomes King of 
England, 442; Charles 1. and, 457, 
465; Charles II. iu,*470; union with 
England, 514 

Scott. Walter, 578 

Serfs, 238, 270, 271, 297, 358 

Sepoy rebellion, 564 

Servants. 289, 376 

Shakespeare, 44u, 582 

Sheep-farms. 358, 417 

Shelley, 584 

Ship-money, 456, 457 

Shrines. 128, 151 : Becket's, 180, 208,388, 
410 

Sikhs, race of, 501-51:2 

Slavery abolished. 5.14 

Slaves, 16, 86-88 

Slave trade, 87, 121, 148, 165, 168; negro 
slave trade, 511, 536, 537 

Smith, Sydney, 551 

Somerset, Dukes of, 346, 356, 415, 418 

Southey, Robert, 581 

Spain, 378, 421, 450, 509, 541 

Spencer, Herbert, 574 

Spenser, 439 

Spurgeon, 578 

Stanley, Dean, 577 

Star-Chamber, 455. 459 

Steam locomotion, 55;; 

Steele, 583 

Stephen, 159-161 

Stirling Castle, sie^e of, 254 

Stone, the sacred, 244, 421, 442 

Stonehenge, 7 

Stratford, Earl of, 454, 45G, 459 

Straw. Jack, 298, ::i>l 

Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, 167 

Succession to the throne, rules of 73 
112, 189, 205, 312 

Suez Canal, 573 

Suffolk, Duke of, 344. 34' 

Sunday-schools, 531 



Surnames. 277, 298, 318 
Sussex, 51, 56 
Swinburne, 586 

Tacitus, 11, 30. 36 

Taxation, 154, 201, 218, 226, 257, 366, 454 

Tennyson, 584 

Test act, 4*0, 481, 500, 522, 588 

Teutons, the, 35-43, 44, 60, 61 

Thackeray, 579 

Thanes, or Thegns, 85 

Theatres, 439, 440 

Thorough, Strafford's scheme of, 456 

Thralls, 86 

Tilbury. Queen Elizabeth at, 436 

Tobacco, introduction of, 445 

Toleration, 500, 501 

Tonnage and poundage, 454. 455 

Tories, 452, 510,512, 517 

Tostig, 126, 127, 132 

Tournaments, 185, 2'J2 

Towns, growth of, 15s, 219 

Transubstantiation, 294, 416 

Triple alliance, 4>>7 

Trollope, Anthony, 581 

Tioyes. treaty of,"330 

Tumuli. 5 

Turner, J. M. W., 533, 542 

Turner, Sharon, 101 

Tylor, E. P.., 574 

Tyndale, 406^109 

Tyndall, 574 

United States, 524; war of independ- 
ence, 533-536 ; war of 1812, .549 
Universities, 213, 396. 493 
University tests, 570 
Utopia, Mores, 392 
Utrecht, treaty of, 511 

Vaudois, persecution of, 474 

Victoria, Queen, 557; coronation, 557; 

marriage, 558 
Villeins, 88, 270, 298, 302, 347. 358 

"Wager of battle, 185, 309 

Wales, Prince of, the title, 232; the 
motto, 265 

Wallace, Sir William, 246-251 

Walls. Roman, 30 

Walpole, Horace, 528 

Walpole, Sir Robert. 515, 522, 523 

Warwick. Earl of, the king-maker, 352, 
359-361 ; the last Plantagenet, 378 

Wat Tyler, 298-301 

Week, names of the days of, 42 

Wellington, Duke of, 544-546 

Welsh, the : origin of the name, 49 ; re- 
ligion and education, 49. 69, 228 ; sub- 
mission to Edward the Elder. 84 ; to 
Edgar, 94 : rebellion, 126; manners 
ami habits, 229-230; conquest by Ed- 
ward I., 251; war with Henry IV., 
316-318 : peace, 377 

Wesley, 529 

Wesse'x, 48, 51 ; Egbert, King of, 63, 
04 









614 



INDEX. 



Westminster Abbey, 128, 208 221 "44 
273, 328, 329. 331, 349, 361, 363, 371*. 373* 

\\ nigs, 452. 517 

Whiteheld, 529 

Whitehall, 396, 398, 462, 469 

WiIbcrfort,Sj Williinj. Safe 5.'' 

M llfrid, Bishop of Sussex, 56 87 

William I., first visit to England 125- 
Claims the kingdom, 129 130 ; invades 
-England, 133; King of England. 140- 
149: ravages Northumberland. 145; 
resists the Pope, 147 ; death. 149 

\\ illiam 11., 150-164 

William III., 492, 496-500; toleration 
500; war in Ireland, 502; death 507 

\\illiam IV., 552-556 

William of Malmesbury, 102, 120. 140, 
141 

Witan, or Witeuagemot, 77, 85, 112 



Witches, 98, 339, 345, 489, 513 
4 ° de "' royal fam "y descended from, 

Wolfe, General, 525 
Wolsey, Cardinal, 393. 399 
Wolves, 20, 94 
Wordsworth. 538, 583 
Work and wages, 558 
World's fair, 562 
W van's rebellion, 422 
Wyclif, 279. 292-296 

Vork. Archbishops of, 176, 211. 318 398 
407, 460 ' ' 

York, Constantine at, 35 

York, Dukes of, 304, 310, 346, 349 350 
369, 486 > > » «> 

Zulus, 572 



lf<rt£r 



